Christine

The tragic event of 29-year-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 is what could have possibly happened in Christine's life to drive her to such an extreme measure, and that is exactly what filmmaker Antonio Campos very successfully uncovers 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 unfulfilled life. Working as news reporter at a financially stupid TV station, she is desperate to be taken seriously, but Mike the station manager (Tracy Letts) insists that she abandon her 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) on whom she has a secret crush -- 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 rather than close them down, as the staff had suspected, the owner 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, she goes into an even deeper depression. The final straw is when what she thinks is at long last on a romantic date with George, but instead he stages a mini-intervention to take her to a therapy group. When he ends the night by casually announcing that he had got the Baltimore job, 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 rebuffs all hands that are extended in friendship, and insists on being a loner. The people in her closest circle become somewhat wrapped in their own lives and fail to notice how deep her depression has sunk, and are simply relieved when she finally appears to accept her situation and asks to be allowed to broadcast live.

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.