Changes the Face of the Crime-Drama Genre!

Rating: 9/10 (22 March 2015)

Changeling, a riveting true crime story set in Los Angeles in 1928, is proof of Clint Eastwood's sure touch and emotional acuity as a director on powerful display. It's a mesmerizing human drama that pulls us in, to the haunting strains of Eastwood's resonant score.
9 year old Walter Collins disappears from their suburban home while Christine is out working at a telephone company. The LAPD does a rather sloppy job with the investigation. Five months later, when the trail has gone cold, Christine finally gets word that Walter has been found. In a taut scene later, LAPD stages a massive press conference in order to generate good press for the embattled police department, which has fought allegations of corruption and brutality.but Christine threatens to rain on their parade when she points out that the boy (Devon Conti) is not her son. With that revelation, the film veers into spooky, almost surreal territory.
As Changeling gathers momentum and shifts tone, it retains a unifying quality, a bleak and melancholy air that sustains it through its transformations. Clint Eastwood, at the peak of his artful powers, adds to his already impressive body of directorial accomplishments with Changeling - a sordid tale of the abuses of power, a gripping mystery and a shrewd historical period piece which documents several concurring events which changed the landscape of Prohibition era Los Angeles. He tightens the screws of suspense without ever forgetting where the heart of his film lies. Lesser hands might let the story sink into teary sentiment.
Yet the real draw here is Angelina Jolie. Not only does she dazzle visually with her unique features heightened with pale complexion and red lipstick, but Jolie provides an emotionally breathtaking performance. She plays Christine Collins like a gathering storm, moving from terror to a fierce resolve. The trauma she suffers is almost tangible as it pours off the screen. View the scene where she confronts the impostor posing as her son; tremble at her throaty scream; feel the pain and anguish. She evokes every parent's worst nightmare, and provides a career defining performance while doing so.
All in all, it is a devastatingly poignant story, beautifully told by a filmmaker right at the top of his game. A failure that's more involving than most successes!