Story based on the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders

Rating: 8/10 (3 December 2016)

This movie is based on a true story that occurred in L.A. in March of 1928. Christine Collins is a single mother of a young boy, Walter (Gattlin Griffith). Christen works as the supervisor of a large group of telephone operators while Walter attends school. One Saturday, when she had promised to take Walter to see a Charlie Chaplin movie, she is called into work to fill in for another sick employee. When she returns from work, Walter is no where to be found. She immediately calls the police, knowing that Walter is reliable and would call her if he had a reason not to be home. The police take her call but reject doing anything immediately: Walter had not been missing for more than 24 hours. After her request is made official, days (then weeks) go by as Walter remains missing.
The media is informed and Christine's search for Walter becomes a famous case as newspapers and radio reporters won't let up on the police department's failure to find Walter. A local minister, Rev Gustav Briegleb (John Malkovich), who broadcasts on the radio and has some public clout, seems to be particularly interested in the 'widespread corruption of the LAPD.' He uses their lack of action in this case to further attack the LAPD.
Weeks after Walter's disappearance, Christine receives news from the LAPD that Walter had been found with a drifter in Illinois and that he would be returning home safe and sound. When Christine goes to meet him at the train station, the boy who meets her is not Walter (even though he claims to be). After police Captain J.J. Jones (Jeffrey Donovan) has the newspaper take a picture of Christine and her "son," he insists that she take him home in spite of her certainty that he is NOT Walter. Jones suggests that Walter's appearance may have changed and that Christine might be in a state of shock.
When she continues to insist that the strange boy in her house is not Walter Dr. Earl W. Tarr (Peter Gerety), who regularly works with the police, tries to convince her that the new boy's shorter height and the fact that he is circumcised (Walter wasn't) all could be explained logically. As she continues to speak out, the police have her committed to an asylum.
She is released when a young illegal immigrant, 14-year-old Sanford Clark (Eddie Alderson) is discovered at a nearby ranch. He is arrested for deportation back to Canada. But before deportation, Clark reveals that he was involved in a bizarre series murders (about twenty other boys). The alleged murderer is Clark's uncle, Gordon Northcott (Jason Butler Hamer). (For more about the actual events, see 'Wineville Chicken Coop Murders' on Wikipeia.)
Could Walter have been one of those murdered..or was he one of the two that got away..or was he still missing in another location? These are the issues that continue to be unfolded as the movie plays out.