Genre: personal drama
Director: Clint Eastwood
Release: 2008
Studio: Imagine Entertainment, Malpaso Productions, Relativity Media – Universal Pictures
Rating: R
MBiS score: 8.0/10
A Mother Should Know
Lincoln Heights (Los Angeles), 1928. Although she had promised to take her ten-year-old son Walter (Gattlin Griffith) to the movies, Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie) simply couldn’t refuse an extra work shift at Pacific Telephone and Telegraph. It was one of those split-second choices a single mom must make between career and family but, at least, Christine had figured she’d be home early enough to take Walter to the movie house. Unfortunately, fate decided otherwise and, when Christine returned from work, her son was nowhere to be found. This mother’s ordeal had only begun. With John Malkovich (Gustav Briegleb), Jeffrey Donovan (J.J. Jones), Amy Ryan (Carol Dexter), Frank Wood (Ben Harris), Colm Feore (James E. Davis), Reed Birney (Mayor Cryer), Geoffrey Pierson (S.S. Hahn), Michael Kelly (Ybarra), Denis O'Hare (Dr. Steele), Jason Butler Harner (Gordon Northcott), Peter Gerety (Tarr) and Ric Sarabia (Man at Diner).
In its first few sequences, THE CHANGELING telegraphs one of its essential themes – during a conversation between Christine and her son – but also tries to mislead by showing happy-go-lucky images that belie the horrors yet to come. Judging by those sequences only, you could easily infer that single parents are a very happy lot. One scene, in particular, epitomizes this ham-fisted and unrealistic set-up, the one where Christine enters her son’s room to wake him up for breakfast. The moment feels idyllic and, instead of trudging in (or darting in) like any busy mom would do, Angelina Jolie prances about, her clothes billowing as if she was modeling the latest Dior on a Paris runway. Right then, I wondered if THE CHANGELING would pain me as much as MILLION DOLLAR BABY did but, luckily for me and happily for Clint Eastwood, it didn’t. It slowly gained momentum after that and, once Christine gets caught in a political tug-of-war that may very well destroy her, I was hooked and ready to go. At the finish, THE CHANGELING stands as a changed movie, a suspenseful and punishing film that will remind you of CHINATOWN not only for its locale and spare trumpet melodies (composed by Eastwood himself) but also for its atmosphere of degradation and corruption in a city reputed to be an earthly paradise.
The same comments hold true for the acting, which looks better and better as the movie develops. In all fairness, Angelina Jolie deserves praise for her performance despite my earlier criticism; one should not call her to account for decisions made by others. As Christine, a character not unlike Mariane Pearl in A MIGHTY HEART, Ms. Jolie shows strength as well as vulnerability... and don't doubt my word for it. The other cast members, portraying a splendid assortment of goodies and baddies, play with much the same conviction, especially Jeffrey Donovan, Amy Ryan and John Malkovich. The difficulty here is not finding well-played characters but identifying those who can be trusted; none of them seems evil at first glance but some will commit truly odious acts in the name of malice or power.
Visually, THE CHANGELING is an attractive film even though some of its locations are grim indeed. Production values and period detail are top-line; I won’t easily forget the film’s Roaring 20s feel, its art deco sets, Walter’s radio and those roaming supervisors. Clint Eastwood’s direction is mostly solid and especially effective in the movie’s riveting last half-hour. As for J. Michael Straczynski’s screenplay, which is based on real events, it holds up nicely despite a couple of soft spots; for one thing, I thought Christine was vague – maybe even flippant – when she explained why her husband had left her and, for another, I would have liked to know what happened to the Rileys, two potential witnesses who were mentioned early on and then forgotten entirely.
At this point, you can guess where I’m going and I’ll make it even clearer: I have no choice but to recommend THE CHANGELING due to its incredible resilience. As if oblivious of its early failings, it simply chugs along until Christine Collins, real and imagined, takes over formidably and refuses to back off. In the end, Eastwood’s film dedicated to this remarkable woman will reward you with a potent and haunting climax that no one could dismiss. More importantly, it will remind you that abuse of power and human frailty are nothing new – particularly in Los Angeles – and that suspicion is more advisable than blind acceptance. Beware of illusions… such is the vital message behind THE CHANGELING. Incidentally and metaphorically speaking, the same could be said of those palm trees that speckle the LA skyline in the film’s outdoor shots. I have read somewhere – and I have not forgotten since – that these trees are not indigenous to Southern California. They were introduced there long ago and have thrived ever since… like a natural mirage for all of Tinseltown’s inhabitants. Christine Collins was also presented with a mirage. Beware, my friends, beware.
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