Kate Plays Christine

This was bad. It tried way too hard to be cool and edgy. And the way it switched back and forth from documentary to acting was just plain confusing and annoying. The other film about Chubbuck was far better and Rebecca Hall was brilliant in it and truly deserving of a nomination for her performance. I will say Kate looked a lot more like Christine than Rebecca did. A few times when she was tan it was actually eerie, but I give this movie one star for that, one for hearing from those who knew Christine, and one for showing some vintage footage of the real Christine Chubbuck. If you are interested in learning about Chubbuck, I definitely recommend the other film over this one.

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.

The idea was great in that we see an actress study her art to be transformed into the tortured soul of Christine Chubbuck who shot herself live on local TV in the 1970's. Kate Lyn Shiel gets to try on some dresses and get a bespoke wig to be transformed into a living embodiment of the late news woman.

She also delves into her past to meet some people to talk a bit about the woman they knew. This could have been insightful but instead of that it is all about Kate Lyn Shiel and what a true artist she is to do all this work for such an important role etc.

This is self indulgent and pretty insulting. After seeing this I have absolutely no intention of seeing the actual film, a complete vanity project and one could say a cynical attempt to promote the actual product and or milk this project for all it is worth. Whilst it espouses to examine the futile act of sensationalism that Christine did in order to further the 'blood and guts' aims of her TV station – this does exactly the same with the naked furtherance of the projects' own profits and notoriety – shameful.

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.

Kate Lyn Sheil is amazing on screen .Her screen presence is comforting and relaxing to watch. She is like no other actress .She goes about without makeup , perfect lighting in street clothes with blemishes and all like a real person l. I have never seen that before She walks and talks and moves like some spiritual sage or mystic with so much peace about her. it is so peaceful watching her. Great little movie and the ending is absolutely out standing. I hope her naturalness is used in other movies.