Not Clint's best, but fascinating still

Rating: 7/10 (1 November 2008)

"Changeling" begins with the old-fashioned Universal Pictures logo and it really sets up what's to come. If this story were set today, a DNA test could have ended this movie in 5 minutes but it's set during the late 1920's, which makes it a complicated mess worthy of being unraveled by a big Hollywood movie. The film is based, unbelievably, on a true story about a Los Angeles woman who loses her son. The LAPD finds who they believe to be him, but its not him. It's a strange story and in less competent hands it could have gone way off track but Clint Eastwood is at the helm and a fantastic cast including Angelina Jolie and John Malkovich are out right in front. "Changeling" is dense and twisty but it remains interesting nonetheless.
Jolie plays Christine Collins, a switchboard supervisor who comes home one day to find that her 9-year old son Walter is missing. It's during this time that the LAPD is already under constant scrutiny for its corruption and incompetence, even being the focus of sermons given by Pastor and radio evangelist Gustav Briegleb (John Malkovich). Christine is about to get a good look at how they do business when she gets a call that her son has been found. Only when arriving at a train station to see him, she knows immediately that the boy is an imposter. This leads to many verbal sparring matches between her and Capt. J.J. Jones (Jeffrey Donovan) and to police reports in the newspaper that Christine is neurotic and an unfit mother. Jones even goes so far as to throw her in a mental institution, where more police corruption is revealed to her by an inmate (Amy Ryan). Her only support comes from the pastor and from one good cop investigating murders committed by a serial killer (Jason Butler Harner) at a ranch.
The movie is more of a chronicle than an emotional journey. It takes us down one path only to yank us down another one later on, going from the sad loss of a son, to a ludicrously shocking display of how the police use their power, to the grisly and disturbing murders committed at the ranch, and finally to the inevitable trials and calls for justice. This movie has a lot to cover and really doesn't spend much time trying to pull at the heartstrings in between. The timeline of events is shocking, ugly and is pretty much guaranteed to leave you fascinated and disturbed just I wish the story stopped every once in a while to dive into character psyches. But regardless, I liked the sort-of chess match being played between Collins and the police, her move being the constant evidence against this boy being her son and theirs being the laughably awful explanations to the contrary, my favorite being that shock can lead to "spine shrinkage." And again this is an uncomfortable yet probing film from Eastwood about the evil that men can do and if you can handle it there is a lot worth watching here.
Eastwood's film is also very authentic. The cars, big red trains and drab looking costumes all look very 1920's. And amid all this background and design is Angelina Jolie, one of those old-fashioned Ava Gardner-type beauties who seems to fit into everything like a glove. There hasn't been a lot of talk concerning the Best Actress race this year but that should change with Jolie, who fills the character with fight, determination, and a strong sense of hope. Her best quality though is that she brings a restrained dignity to the role, never falling into a melodramatic trap once. Malkovich is phenomenal, providing us with a character whose rock-solid both in his intelligence and in his resolve. And the villains also shine, Jeffrey Donovan giving a slick and slimy performance while Jason Butler Harner makes for a disgustingly pathetic and sick human being.
"Changeling" works as a report. It's more of a this happened, this happened, then this happened type of movie, with the characters going through motions. But that's really the only thing that keeps the movie from being really exceptional. The cast does fine work and fills the emotional holes the best they can and Eastwood again makes a compelling movie about the evil in the hearts of men. "Changeling" could have been better but it's good nonetheless.