Kate Plays Christine (2016) Reviews

• Interesting take on a Bizarre Story!

  lralbright12016-10-27

  It was a strange coincidence this past Sundance when two movies about the same subject - Christine Chubbuck - played in competition. Christine, the other movie, is a conventional biopic, one that I found to be the best movie I've seen so far this year; this take on Christine Chubbuck is a documentary approach. Kind of. Kate Plays Christine centers around Kate Lynn Sheil preparing for the role of Christine Chubbuck in a low-budget biopic. We follow her through the preparation period, which consists of research, getting a tan, getting fitted for a wig, calling Chubbuck's former news station in order to gain access to archive footage of Christine, and interviews with locals from Sarasota Florida about Christine. This all is interspersed with footage from this biopic in-the-making. This is where the film's premise is going to confuse an average viewer, this biopic that's being filmed isn't actually "real". There is no movie actually being made within this 'documentary' to be seen, though what little is seen, looks terrible. Kate Lynn Sheil also, I was surprised, by how bad her performance is in these scenes. Yet, as I continued to watch the movie, I began to realize, that was the point. In Christine, we see Rebecca Hall's take on Chubbuck as someone who wants to be a reporter in a bigger market, but her actual aptitude for being a reporter, as portrayed by Hall, leaves you wondering why she chose this particular field in the first place. A co-worker of Christine's even says, before presenting rare footage of the actual Christine Chubbuck giving an interview says, 'she wasn't the greatest interviewer'. Which leads me to believe that Kate Lyn Sheil is playing this part badly on purpose to imitate Christine Chubbuck's failure to be a reporter the way that she wanted to be. The "movie" within the documentary is bad as a statement that a biopic about someone truly unknowable, like Christine Chubbuck, shouldn't be made. Though the execution of this concept isn't perfect, it has enough to admire within it to give it a watch. Though I disagree with the statement that's most likely being made about Christine, and even to some extent, itself, I respect why the filmmakers would take that stance. Robert Greene and Kate Lyn Sheil are the reasons this movie works, with a lesser director and actress, this could've easily been a complete disaster, but somehow, this tricky material finds its way.

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• Not as compelling or groundbreaking as the filmmakers think it is

  tsimshotsui2017-03-09

  I was really excited to watch this film because experimental and meta are keywords that usually make me pay attention. Kate Plays Christine doesn't quite do it for me however. There were good moments, such as finding the people she worked with (there was no info to ground these on though, we just find out someone found them for Kate somehow). Kate preparing to get into Christine's mindset was also interesting to watch, if not then diluted by scenes of her somehow getting too into that mindset that I find myself suddenly questioning whatever is happening. That wig honestly could've been way better and was really distracting, especially at reenactments that also try to blur the lines between what was scripted and what was real. It and some of the acting made it hard to watch and hard to buy. By the end, everything just feels staged, scripted, and aimed to provoke the viewer, and I could not fall for it.

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• Pretentious and very bizarre vanity project

  TheBlueHairedLawyer2017-08-25

  In 2016, two films about the late 1970's Florida newscaster Christine Chubbuck were released: this one, which is a nonfiction documentary, and another, which is more of a historical drama. It's surprising to me that the latter of the two was much better. The dramatization captured not only the Seventies psychedelic vibe very well with its muted yellow colours and its placement of fashion and music, but its portrayal of Christine herself was also more realistic. I don't know why the documentary was made. On the positive side, it points out that there really is no reason to seek out the gory tape of Chubbuck's tragic death other than for sadists to get off on, or for the public to turn into a morbid curiosity. It also gives viewers the chance to hear opinions from Steve Newman (WXLT's TV weatherman and close friend of Christine's) who talks more about Christine's life and personality than the actual suicide itself. Unfortunately 'Kate Plays Christine' comes off largely as a vanity project, focused less on Chubbuck herself and more on hipster-esque actress Kate Lyn Sheil, who looks absolutely nothing like Christine at all, anyway. Her voice is extremely different than Christine's, her eyes are blue instead of brown, and her hair is different. This two-hour documentary mostly features Kate making a ridiculous, self-indulgent spectacle by dressing up as what could only be described as a mannequin version of Chubbuck, with a fake spray tan, plastic-looking wig that keeps falling off, coloured contact lenses and fashions that are supposed to look like they're from the era but obviously never were. On top of that she acts like a nosy stalker, pestering Florida locals with morbid questions of suicide and even going into the gun shop where Cristine herself bought the handgun that did the deed back in 1974, dressed up as Christine with the purpose of buying a gun. The whole display, especially when she walks into what appears to be Chubbuck's final place of residence and creeps around, was rather tasteless. We also get badly recreated scenes of Christine's life, and while most of the background actors were quite good, Kate herself sounded worse than the drama productions that my own local high school does, speaking in a forced monotone that had me laughing when I should have been upset with Christine's plight. While the dramatization film also released this year starring Rebecca Hall at least dealt with the subject matter in a respectful manner, 'Kate Plays Christine' just felt like a mocking, distasteful display of rubbernecking and dredging up a story that those involved seem to want to let rest in peace.

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• Not Buying It

  glidergeek-363902017-04-30

  SPOILERS Although I'm not entirely questioning the psychological hoops those in the field of acting have to go through, I do question just how much of this was either a) scripted b) pushed That is not to say they do not experience struggles of their own when they are playing such a deep, dark role. Add to that this role is true, not made up, has to mess with one's mind even more. But with re-enactments and the fact that Kate Lyn Sheil is 'auditioning' for a role for a film that doesn't even exist, it's hard to believe anything that is going on. It feels as though those involved are merely trying to drive the point home to the viewers- the same point Christine Chubbuck was trying to make when she attempted suicide on a live news broadcast on July 15, 1974. We are a society that cares less about the news that matters and more about the news that involves death and gore, even if it doesn't effect anybody but those directly involved. Ironically, Kate Lyn Sheil proceeds to reenact the shooting, which is filmed and shown to the viewer. But not until she's given a speech of her own about the interest in the gore by the public. Just like Christine Chubbuck did prior to shooting herself. I understand getting into the character, and making it believable. It just appeared too forced to believe this was all really going on.

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• Confused by all the praise.

  torbi-22017-03-06

  I want to be diplomatic and not call this garbage but…Ellie Kemper's less talented hipster cousin embarks on preparation of a role for a film that does not seem to exist (there is no record of it on IMDb and the news stories about the doc do not mention where it went. Did Greene set out to make the movie and then realize how awful all of his actors were and then change direction to salvage the footage by turning it into this "documentary"?) She looks nothing like the real Christine and any amount of spray tan and colored contacts aren't convincing enough to make us believe it. (The wig is the worst "performer" in this doc...as I'm typing this there's a scene where she TAKES IT SWIMMING. Girl, you want to be a real actress, don't be that much of a dumbass.) I'm confused why this got so much praise, I found it to be a frustrating watch.

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