A Remarkably Frustrating and Brilliant Film

Rating: 8/10 (20 January 2019)

19 February 2009. "Changeling" is easily the most ambitious and dramatic movie of the year (2008) in which the subject matter, the plot all conspire to make this movie almost unwatchable but captivating at the same time. Watching the movie is almost like having to sit through two solid hours of the emotionally intense but upsetting television action-thriller "24." The frustration of the disbelief that "bad" guys get away with so much, that the primary female protagonist comes across, especially for the first two-thirds of the movie, a wimp, a weakling that the movie becomes almost unbearable to watch. "Changeling" raises a fascinating conundrum of whether the unsettling feelings about a movie, particularly this movie are because of its inferior weak qualities or whether it is in fact the fascination of the authenticity of the plot and characters. There are a few problems with the movie, the first having to do with the two week jump between Angelina Jolie's character's son's disappearance and the next scene that skips over the initial behavior and reactions of Jolie as a mother and the police department, supposedly crucial moments in any kidnapping incident. The second is after the movie is over, Angelina Jolie's character is strangely still underdeveloped in that the audience never really is provided much in the way of who this person is, no background, no backstory, no real understanding of who and why this person does specifically what she does. This absence serves to somehow distance the audience from the primary character of the movie. Finally, one of the musical selections that keeps getting played over and over towards the end of the movie just doesn't seem to fit in the the emotionality of the scenes, almost a happy, reminiscent tonal quality instead of the more melancholy melody. Nevertheless, this movie presents several major and fantastic plot sequences each and any of which could have easily been devoted to a single movie themselves. The kidnapping, the police cover-up, the mental health institution - with flashbacks to another movie Jolie starred in "Girl, Interrupted", 1999 where she won an Oscar for best supporting actress - the criminal search, the trial, the continued search. What was also amazing was Angelina Jolie's performance, that felt real (no superhero antics), the set design, and even several of the musical melodies were just set on period perfect. Clint Eastwood's moody direction was haunting, scary, thrilling in the right moments as well as uplifting (the last hour) without getting gaudy. Overall, this movie was an incredible, if not complicated experience - one of the most difficult emotionally and logically to judge as a movie because the line between the performances and story entered into one's own emotional beliefs and feelings and investiture. Eight out of Ten Stars.