Doesn't quite hit the spot

Rating: 7/10 (10 December 2008)

This film is good but it doesn't quite hit the spot. I suppose expectations for any Eastwood film are high given his track record but I thought he would have done better with this story based on amazing true life events.
I'm not sure why I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. The story of the child going missing and a different boy being presented to the mother by LAPD seems made for a movie, even without the even more horrific subplot of what actually happened to the boy.
Jolie is good as the mother but,not her fault I know, you never forget who she is, with those amazing eyes and lips in nearly every scene. At times, especially given the main theme and some very disturbing scenes, the film strays uncomfortably into sentimentality. Such as when Jolie gets all the women illegally held in the asylum released and her "best friend inside" gives her a grateful glance as she leaves.
Definitely worth seeing but not one of the films of the year.