Possibly the Most Horrific True Crime Film Since "Zodiac"

Rating: 10/10 (31 March 2010)

Seventy years ago, Christine Collins, the mother of a missing boy, Walter Collins, tried to convince the LAPD that they had found the wrong child. She insisted they needed to continue their investigation. Except in this case, the LAPD decided she was a trouble-maker and put her into an insane asylum to shut her up. What was the use of a woman going around bad-mouthing the LAPD about a case that had been solved? The main point: don't mess with the LAPD. Strangely, how little things have changed? The story, for those who don't know it, uncovers one of most heinous crimes against children in the 20th century, the so-called Wineville Chickencoup Murders.
The LAPD comes off somewhat similarly to the recent problems with the SEC in that instead of investigating what they should have been investigating, they spend their time playing damage-control. They were hoping that putting Collins in an institution would help prevent them from being on the receiving end of fear and loathing from the public, via the press. But they put the wrong person in there. At first the story centers around Collins, her missing child, and the corruption of the LAPD. Gradually, another story emerges, the serial killing of small boys by a child molester, Gordon Northcott. Northcott makes the likes of Hannibal Lector seem somewhat tame. The exposure of this case on film is one of the most disturbing cinematic episodes I have ever viewed, right up there with scenes from Apocalypse Now! and Zodiac.
The center of the film is Christine Collins, played brilliantly by Angelina Jolie in maybe the role of her career, as the wronged mother of a missing boy. Her story propelled by Jolie is quite compelling despite some of the awful circumstances that come her way, particularly her incarceration into an institution. According to the film, many women, some of them prostitutes, were unjustly incarcerated when they refused to play along with the corruption of the LAPD. This story rings strangely familiar...
Again high marks go to Clint Eastwood for directing and producing what may be the most horrific film with which he has ever been involved. Northcott, the real life child murderer, is as heinous as the fictional character Scorpio from the first "Dirty Harry" movie. But in the case of "Changeling", instead of going outside the law in the name of justice, the LAPD seems to be aiding and abetting crime.
After having read about the case, both of Collins and the Wineville murders, the filmmakers did a tremendous job in maintaining much historical accuracy. Which may also keep some viewers away. This is one of the most disturbing films I have ever seen, and is definitely not for the feint of heart. Or those with emotional instability. The entire story draws the viewer in like a reluctant witness to the injustices of the LAPD and the horrific activities that took place at a chicken ranch on the outskirts of Riverside County. If anybody in the LAPD and Wineville besides the victims were trying to come out looking positive, they failed miserably. Christine Collins received a new voice to tell her story.