Changeling: A Solid Offering

Rating: 7/10 (7 January 2011)

Clint Eastwood, in recent times, has returned again and again to my mind as a director of considerable prowess, the (modern, at least) films of whom offer consistently powerful stories with a deeply dark tone resonating throughout. The recent Warner Brothers release of 35 Eastwood films prompted me to begin a further exploration of his catalogue, a task I began with Changeling, itself—a Universal release—not included in the aforementioned collection.
Apparently taken from real events, Changeling presents the story of Christine Collins, a single mother newly promoted to supervisor in a telecommunications firm. Forced to leave her son alone for a few hours when she is called upon to cover a shift, Collins returns to find him gone. The eventual discovery of a child she is resolutely convinced is not her own leads her to conflicts with the obdurate police force as they refuse to resume the search for the boy they insist is now returned.
Following on from the intriguing companion piece projects that were Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, and released less than two months before Gran Torino, Changeling is a work from a man churning out films of a high quality at an extraordinary pace. From the beginning Eastwood's fondness for shadows is seen, the director's thematically synonymous usage of lighting among his most recognisable trademarks. Also apparent from the onset is a surprising modesty in Jolie's performance. Truth be told, I daresay I'd not have noticed who was on the screen had I not already known the cast. She blends perfectly into the well created period setting, her performance subtle in the film's beginnings. A minor hiccup encountered at an early stage is the film's pacing; the child has been lost and returned within approximately thirty minutes. Whilst the story that follows is of course the film's centrepiece, the rapidity of the earlier scenes is somewhat diminutive in communicating Collins' emotional response. The film—and we along with it—are given insufficient time to appreciate the loss, the lack of a decent plaintive scene portraying a mother's loss the evident problem. Once the primary narrative arrives, however, the film picks itself up and delivers a series of political messages alongside a succession of emotional scenes. Jolie begins to shine as the woman determined not to be silenced, Malkovich's supporting role adding a fiery criticism which works well to reinforce the damnation of public office corruption. What seems a side-plot integrates itself proficiently into the main narrative with a number of eerily fascinating scenes and a trio of fine supporting performances. The nature of this is perhaps a tad familiar in manner, not quite as original as we might have hoped for, but a fair excuse for Eastwood to indulge himself with replete darkness as he does so well. The film's finale is suitable, working quite well to replicate and maintain the overall tone of the piece.
An atavistic portrait, Changeling is not without its flaws. Jolie's performance, though more impressive than ever I'd expected of her, falls short of brilliance through its stoicism, a little too neat emotionally. The character's strength is not—in this case—the film's. Aside from this, it is effective in what it attempts to do, delivering an enthralling story with a world-weary realism conveyed as much—if indeed not more—through its lighting as through its narrative. Though not quite as strong as many of its neighbours in the Eastwood library, Changeling is a solid offering from a man who is doubtlessly one of American cinema's finest working directors.