Oscar deserving movies

Rating: 9/10 (24 November 2010)

Clint Eastwood once again has delivered another powerful drama in this movie about a missing child and the lengths a mother will go to to find her child even if it means taking a whole corrupt police force that has no qualms for unauthorized executions or sending women to mental institutions simply because they can.
Eastwood has proved again that he is a master director in the likes of Scorsese and Ron Howard. His attention to details, the accurate presentation of the the 1920s, his skill in getting the best performances from the actors were excellent. Another strong point in his favour was that he resisted the temptation to turn this into a global conspiracy thriller. There was suspense of course, villains, unlikely heroes, allies as well as enemies but all this blended perfectly with the plot.
The story concerns a missing child. As the mother, Christine Collins is going out of her mind with worry about her son's disappearance, she receives a visit from the police that her son has been found and this is when the real problem starts.
The woman claims that the boy they found is not her son and the police Captain J.J. James(chillingly played to a hilt by Jefferey Donovan)insists that they found the right boy. I'm sure the question the audience will be asking themselves is, is there a deliberate conspiracy by the police or just a case of mistaken identity or is the woman deranged? Angelina Jolie initially would have not been my first choice for such a sensitive role but I have to admit that her performance was flawless. This woman can act. Her pain, fears, frustrations, strenght was there for the audience to see. I have read other critics that she was crying too much. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT? The woman is looking for her child. Do you expect her to play cards and smile all the time. Jolie gave a realistic portrayal of a woman looking for her child. She certainly deserved an Oscar for this.
John Malkovitch also gave a good, if not first class performance, as the reverend who offers to help the grief stricken mother.
But special mention must be made of James Butler Harner who plays the the psychotic Gordon Northcott. That guy really gave me the spooks.
Michael Kelly as the unlikely hero also gave a well delivered performance.
But the real stars are the real characters that this movies is based on. The mother, the reverend, the missing boy who risked (and possibly sacrificed) his life to save another, the detective who blew open the case, and the lawyer who represented the mother pro bono. These guys were heroes. I wish there can be more of them. The world will definitely be a better place.