Changeling
director clint eastwood goes old school. thanks a lot.
2008-10-31
By Sergio Mims

CAST:  Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Jeffrey Donovan, Michael Kelly, Jason Butler Hartner, Geoff Pierson
WRITTEN BY: J. Michael Stracynski
DIRECTED BY:  Clint Eastwood

***1/2  Three and half stars

Serious filmgoers who like to complain that, when it comes to today’s movies “they don’t make them like they used to,” should definitely mark director Clint Eastwood’s new film as a must see. Changeling is an intelligent, gripping throwback to the Bette Davis, Joan Crawford and Olivia De Havilland melodramas of the 30’s and 40’s  -- movies such as Mildred Pierce, Marked Woman, The Damned Don’t Cry  and, especially in the case of Changeling, The Snake Pit.

These were films about strong, independent women who faced daunting obstacles to happiness, defeating them after much trial and tribulation. These were films that basically died out when those types of actresses were replaced by bland, less interesting starlets, and studios who decided to make movies aimed at young men because that’s where the big bucks are.

But Changeling is a welcome reminder that the formula for a successful film is simple: a compelling, well told story and interesting, full-dimensional characters who have a stake in the outcome of the story. With his steady direction, Eastwood has crafted a serious and involving film that keeps it’s grip on the audience through its nearly two and one-half hour length, from the first scene to the film’s bittersweet conclusion.

Based on the now forgotten and infamous “Wineville Chicken Coop Murder” case which rocked Los Angeles during the late 1920’s to early 30’s, the film centers around Christine Collins (Jolie) a telephone operator supervisor and a single mother devoted to her 10-year-old son. When she finds him missing after her work shift, she goes into a panic, giving way to a deep depression until, months later, the L.A police announce to the press that they have found her son.

But, her happiness is short lived when she indicates the boy presented to her is not her son despite the police, and the boy’s insistence that he is. Reluctantly she takes the kid in while raising hell about her still-missing son to anyone who will listen. Her protests eventually attract the attention of a crusading radio evangelist (Malkovich) who’s on a mission to expose the criminal L.A. police force.

Before they can hatch their plan, Collins is thrown into the city’s brutal insane asylum, mainly used by the police to silence women who had, at one time or another, threatened to expose them. From that point, the film follows several story threads that unlock many mysteries, leading the audience to what is, perhaps, a hopeful final conclusion.

Of course a film like Changeling succeeds or fails on the strength of its central performance, and Jolie is absolutely amazing in the title role. In Changeling she runs the gamut from joy and contentment to fear, sadness, depression and anger (and that’s just in the film’s first 30 minutes) giving her character a hard determination along with genuinely sympathetic feelings of frustration and sorrow. It’s a tough, accomplished performance by someone previously more famous for being a home wrecker and Mother Teresa. No doubt she is certain to get a best actress Oscar nomination next year.

Malkovich hams it up as usual as the avenging preacher, while Michael Kelly as the one true honest L.A. cop who cracks the case of the missing Collins boy, and a Gary Cooper-like Geoff Pierson as Jolie’s lawyer all turn in fine performances.

Changeling is a terrific example of solid craftsmanship by a director who knows how to make films the way they used to make them -- smart, adult, and full of real substance.

Film critic, lecturer and festival consultant Sergio Mims covers all things film from the city that works, Chicago. He is a regular contributor to ebonyjet.com