Directed by:
Clint EastwoodScreenplay:
J. Michael StraczynskiCinematography:
Tom SternComposer:
Clint EastwoodCast:
Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Jeffrey Donovan, Michael Kelly, Colm Feore, Jason Butler Harner, Amy Ryan, Geoff Pierson, Denis O'Hare, Frank Wood (more)VOD (4)
Plots(1)
Clint Eastwood directs this thriller based on true events that took place in 1920s California. Angelina Jolie stars as Christine Collins, a mother who thinks her prayers have been answered when her kidnapped nine-year-old son is returned to her. However, she quickly realises that the boy with whom she has been reunited is not in fact her son. She must now face a corrupt police force and a seemingly immovable legal system to continue the fight to find her own son. Slandered by the press as unstable and delusional, she eventually finds an ally in activist Reverend Briegleb (John Malkovich), who helps her take on the authorities and track down her missing son. (Universal Pictures UK)
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Reviews (12)
There are simply too many thoughts and intentions for one film. A missing child, police corruption and inconsistency, a Ken Kesey-like mental hospital drama, a trial to justify a scapegoat and punish a murdering monster... Only Eastwood can indulge in that, and he doesn't fall short at any point, but the excessive runtime and uneven pacing are proof that more intimate and purely genre stories in the style of A Perfect World or Gran Torino suit him better as a storyteller. The script in itself isn't bad, but it lacks credibility in some of its individual parts, whether in the half-hearted depiction of an evil and irrational police or medical staff, or in the circumstances surrounding the child murders, which lack virtually any motive or explanation. Nevertheless, this is an excellent film, emotionally colourful, visually authentic and psychologically mature, with a sweetly depressing piano soundtrack and a wonderful Angelina Jolie, who traded the face of a tough action heroine for the tortured expression of a betrayed yet hard-fighting mother – a shame for the guys, a stroke of luck for the film... 80%
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I appreciate how Clint's slow but focused direction manages to fully serve the story, telling it from the position of an unbiased observer while letting the viewer deal with the emotional whirlwind on their own. What I appreciate less is the fact that the last quarter is a bit of an appendix - a place that just is, but somehow the viewer can do without it, perhaps because the cards have been dealt long ago and nothing can surprise him anymore. Then there is Angelina, and although she’s great, she’s still and always just "Angelina™," which can't be hidden even by the elegant hat and the period hair and make-up. However, I do admit that the first two-thirds or so of the film hit me hard.
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Disappointed I certainly am not, as I got exactly what I expected. Eastwood masters his craft reliably and chose such an attractive topic that it represents a sure bet within the US and world cinema, so to speak. The loss of a child, corruption and the incompetence of authorities, as well as police harassment against a fragile defenseless woman, the rampage of a psychopathic violent person, civil activism, and the expected victory of justice and democracy over corrupt individuals. The system is saved again, and we move on. In the first half, when the protagonist is crushed by the pressure of events and one marvels at the absurdity of the conditions in America at the end of the 1920s, it works very well, and my rating reflects that. However, after the drama moves to the courtroom, it becomes a standard, typically American, predictable spectacle according to the formula tried and tested many times. Overall, for me, it gets a 3.5-star rating, with my tradition of leaning toward a lower rating for such an acclaimed film. The casting of Angelina Jolie in the lead role also plays a certain role in that. I don't particularly care for her. Overall impression: 65%.
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Clint Eastwood with fragile piano music is the Danielle Steel of serious topics. But for topics as serious as those addressed in Changeling, and especially for tying them together in some meaningful way, a big heart alone is not enough.
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The last part of the film is unnecessarily pompous, here it would apply the famous saying that less is sometimes more.Otherwise, it is a gripping, minimalist and heart-wrenching story, where the otherwise mannequin-like and wannabe cool tough chick Angelina Jolie delivers the best and most heartfelt performance of her career. Clint Eastwood amazes once again with his perfectly thought-out old-school direction, and the production design and cinematography are superb elements in this perfectly harmonious masterpiece. Without a doubt, one of the best films of the year, and perhaps the best in terms of direction.
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