Running Time. 2 hours 21 mins
Director. Clint Eastwood
Cast. Jeffrey Donovan, Jason Butler Harner, Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Geoff Pierson, Amy Ryan.
Rating. 71%
Based on the true story from the 1920s, Changeling was Clint Eastwood's subsequent offering following the critically acclaimed Iwo Jima companion pieces - Flags Of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima.
Christine Collins' nine-year-old son, Walter goes missing from their home, only to be found by detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department weeks later in Illinois. In the early days of public relations, the heavily criticised and under-pressure Los Angeles Police Department seize on this opportunity as a means of garnering some good press for a change. But Christine Collins is adamant that this boy is not Walter.
In an Academy Award-nominated performance, Angelina Jolie is terrific as Christine Collins. Tireless and tenacious, she will not stop searching for her missing son, despite enormous pressure to do so. The more Christine protests, the crazier she seems. Undoubtedly a talented actress (Gia, The Mighty Heart and By The Sea), Angelina Jolie once again delivers one of her finest performances in a film hardly anyone saw. This is the performance that should have earned Jolie an Oscar.
Technically, as you might expect, from a Clint Eastwood film, Changeling looks fantastic and the production values are superb. This is a classy production, one that once again allows the director to aimlessly meander on the piano. Mom's On Call / Late To Trolley is particularly effective, and apparently effortless to the uber-talented Eastwood.
The film's primary narrative centres on the abuse of power and exposing blatant corruption at the highest levels of authority. But the smaller, more personal plot points make for interesting viewing. For example, Christine's anxieties and fragilities in balancing her career as a switchboard telephone supervisor and single mother, and her emotional state following her wrongful incarceration.
Christine's period of incarceration evokes obvious comparisons with Girl, Interrupted and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. The incarceration storyline vies with elements from a domestic drama, a courtroom drama and a hunt for a serial killer. And this may be the failing of Changeling, the film is too wide-ranging and too ambitious. The importance of Christine Collins' story is diluted by a secondary storyline involving the hunt for a serial killer. A distraction that is only amplified by the strong performance of Jason Butler Harner, as the incredibly creepy and disturbing Gordon Northcott.
Like many of Clint Eastwood's standout directorial efforts, Changeling, and in particular Christine's ordeal in uncovering the truth, is an intensely emotional story. And whilst not to the same standard as Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby, Changeling is still a good film. Just not brilliant.
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