Painstakingly touching

Rating: 10/10 (22 January 2009)

Who knew Angelina Jolie could do such good drama? This came as a serious surprise to me. The whole movie was incredible and you could really see the touch of director/producer Clint Eastwood in this film. I don't even know where to start.
The greatest thing about this film is the fact that it doesn't try to be epic. It just tells a story of a desperate mother trying to find her mysteriously disappeared son. While she tries to find her son she gets entangled to a serious web of police arbitrariness and corruption. She is not a heroine but rather forced to take action she is terrified about. Watching a lone mother struggle in historically accurate 1920s L.A. makes your heart want to give in from the amount of sympathy.
I can stress the performance of Angelina Jolie hard enough. From the moments of blind rage to the lonesome disbelief she does a marvelous job. There are no weak actors. There is nothing needless in the movie - it just nails you to the chair with its subtle yet dark way of telling a story.
Touching subjects from mental health care to fundamental human rights this movie is certainly something else. It might just be the best written, best directed and best acted drama ever made!