A film to leave you thinking

Rating: 9/10 (5 January 2009)

As any trip to a cinema does, it started in the most mundane and British way  queuing, queuing for tickets, queuing for food and queuing for the bathroom, not the best start to an evening but one that is part of the cinematic experience none the less. So after over 15 minutes queuing, we are ready, we have tickets, we have exceedingly large paper cups of Pepsi max and between us all a combination of sweet and salty popcorn, chocolate raisins and my personal favourite, jelly babies. But still we are nowhere near the beginning of our film, first we have to sit in darkened room while bombarded with advertisements. We turn this into a game, a jelly baby for the first person to correctly guess what the advert was advertising, which then turned into a heated debate on how to eat jelly babies, head first or feet first. Then after what seemed like hours (although I am assured by friends it could have been no longer than 20minutes) it gets more interesting. The trailers begin, of course letting loose frantic (and unfortunately very loud) whispering between my friends and I, deciding which of these films look good, bad, terrible and ones that we will most definitely be going to see. Then after several rather rude hushing noises from the elderly pair sitting in the behind us and amused sniggering from the people in front as we got more and more irate in our opinions on films we hadn't even seen, the room got darker, the screen widen and finally nearly an hour after arriving at the cinema our film was about to begin. Clint Eastwood's newest project the Changeling is the true story of Christine Collins, a 1928 single mother living in Los Angeles, who goes to work one day to return to find her son missing. This film tells her battle with the Los Angeles Police Department as they, unwilling to admit a mistake after returning the wrong boy to her, get her institutionalized at the local mental hospital. The film opens with a stylised black and white view of Los Angeles setting the scene of being in 1928, and the rest of the film, although in colour, has an unsaturated colour choice that gives an immediate feeling of doom and sadness for the picture as well as creating a feeling of an older film. This film is not one of Eastwood's best achievements as at times the dialog feels forced. For example, when Jolie adds a "Sport" moniker or makes references to Cleopatra. As if Eastwood is saying to the audience "Yes, this really is 1928." The tone of this story also seems to just go over the border from homage to 1930's dramatic cinematic style to over-the-top melodrama, particularly in scenes featuring Captain J.J.Jones, the "bad cop" of the plot who Eastwood pushes just a little too far in the stereotypical role. Angelina Jolie's portrayal of Christine Collins was the highlight of the film, bringing tears to the eyes of not only me but every member of the cinema audience. She gives a very believable performance of a mother who has lost her child. We can read the pain in her eyes, the determination and the disturbing reality that her obsession might be having unexpected results, but one thing is clear, there is a drive that won't quit, and it's admirable for those of us who want her to be reunited with her child. For a portion of the film Jolie returns to a theme that she has visited in many of her movies, filling a personality that she seems to slip effortlessly now, as she enters a mental asylum. If Jolie has a forte, insanity is it. Overall the film was powerful and inspiring. It was a tale of high drama, anguish and devotion, with scenes involving Jason Butler Harner who gives a distinctive performance as the wigged-out killer, Gordon Northcott, who sends a shiver down the spine of the audience. However the scene of his hanging was rather drawn out and graphic compared with even the murder scenes that had appeared earlier in the film and this sudden focus of his killing rather affects the feeling of justice being made, instead creating a sympathy with this killer. Walking down the sticky aisle of the cinema after this film the consensus from my friends and I: I film well worth seeing, especially if you enjoy a good cry. It leaves a lasting impression on the audience, and by the end of the film you have all but forgotten about the queuing and adverts that you had to survive beforehand.