The tragic event of 29 years old news reporter Christine Chubbock who very dramatically blew her brains out live on local TV in Sarasota back in 1974 is a well-recorded incident that is hard to forget. However, what is not known at all is what could have possibly happened in Christine’s life that was so very dire that would drive her to such an extreme measure, and that is exactly what filmmaker Antonio Campos very successfully uncover in this compelling fictionalization of her real life story.
When we first catch sight of Christine (Rebecca Hall in a career-best performance) it is very obvious clear that she is deeply unhappy with her very unfulfilled life. Working as news reporter at a small budget-strapped, she is desperate to be taken seriously but Mike the station manager (Tracy Letts) insists that she abandons her deeper think-pieces and focus on more headline-grabbing ‘juicier’ material to booster their failing ratings. Her colleagues such as George the news anchorman (Michael C Hall) who she has a secret crush on, merely tolerate her and her tantrums, as they do not share her ambitions to work for a big TV network.
The totally friendless Christine lives in a cramped apartment with her unemployed mother (the wonderful J Smith-Cameron), who in a slight role-reversal is the one who is always out having fun and dating different men. When Christine has to go to the doctors to check out her troubling stomach pains, she scoffs at the mere suggestion that she could be pregnant, and later even confesses to a colleague that she is in fact, still a virgin.
When the TV Station owner pays an unexpected visit to the studios , rumors are rife about their future, but in fact rather than close them down as they had suspected, he announces he has bought a bigger station in Baltimore and is looking to transfer some of the broadcasters there. Once Christine realizes that she will not be even considered for this promotion because of her work and the fact she is not a team player, this extremely disturbed women, goes into even a deeper depression. The final straw is when what she thinks is at long last on a romantic date with George but instead he turns into staging a mini-intervention to take her to a therapy group. Then when he ends the night by casually announcing that he had got the Baltimore job, then that is the final straw.
Hall’s Christine is far from a likable person and the fact that she is totally lacking in social skills certainly doesn’t help. She rebuffed all hands that were extended in friendship, and insisted in being a loner. After a time her closest circle were somewhat wrapped in their own lives so they failed to notice how deep her depression has sunk, and are simply relieved when she finally appears to accept her fait accompli at the Station and asks to be allowed to broadcast live on the fatal day.
Whilst it is definitely Hall’s movie, there are some well rounded performances from the supporting cast that make the story resounds so effectively.
Campos, with a well-written script from Craig Shilowich, plays the story sympathetically avoiding any hint of sensationalism, and even though we know the outcome from the start, he keeps us completely engaged in this tragic drama until the very last frame.
Labels: 2016, drama, dramatized real-life
