Whoa! Where to begin?

Rating: 10/10 (1 November 2008)

I just got back from seeing this, and I am still overwhelmed. So, I'll begin by giving a definition of the title. A "changeling," in medieval folklore, was a child of the magical fairy-folk left in place of an abducted mortal child. So, using that to describe what the LAPD of 1928 tried to do, with regard to Christine Collins, is all too-apt.
As depicted by Angelina Jolie, in this film, Christine is a single mom whose husband abandoned her and their son almost ten years earlier. So, she has been trying to make ends meet by working at the L.A. branch of the Bell Telephone Company as a shift supervisor. A job so hectic, she has to wear roller skates!
Getting home late, from an emergency fill-in, she calls her son Walter in for supper...and gets no response. After an increasingly frantic search around the neighborhood, she calls the local police station. And, I must admit to being shocked at hearing that the "24-hour minimum rule" was in effect even eighty years ago!!
Cut to a downtown L.A. train station five months later. Enter the boy from Illinois who claims that he is Walter. Despite her claims to the contrary, she is pressured into giving him shelter overnight. After giving him a warm bath before bedtime, though, she finds...surgical proof that the kid is definitely an impostor.
You will see for yourselves just what the LAPD subsequently puts her through, rather than admit they might have made a mistake. Because, mere words cannot do it justice. I've gone to a lot of graphically violent movies before. But, even I had to close my eyes during several of the mental hospital scenes, alone!
Clint Eastwood has truly directed another gut-wrenching masterpiece. That and his musical score--which I predict will be just as bittersweetly haunting as "Beyond Tomorrow," from the Al Pacino classic SERPICO--are bound to get Oscar nominations for those two categories. Likewise, the writing by J. Michael Straczynski (of BABYLON 5 fame) and the co-production of Ron Howard.
Jeffrey Donovan, from TV's BURN NOTICE, does a pretty good job at making you hate Capt. J.J. Jones. Although, if he was trying to give his character a slight Irish brogue, I have to confess it sounded more like the Maine accent of that actor who used to appear in the Pepperidge Farm commercials!
As for Jason Butler Harner? He reminded me of a young Dennis Hopper, with the suitably chilling way he played convicted child murderer Gordon Northcott.
But, I think it's John Malkovich (as Rev. Briegleb), Gattlin Griffith (the real Walter), and Devon Corti (the fake Walter) who will probably all wind up being rivals for Best Supporting Actor. And, if none of my predictions come true? Then, shame on you, Motion Picture Academy!
So, go see this movie, and bring plenty of tissue. Because, no one in their right mind will be able to keep a dry eye through this movie. And, I'm not ashamed to say that I certainly didn't.