I used to tell Walter, "Never start a fight... but always finish it." I didn't start this fight... but by God, I'm going to finish it.

Rating: 9/10 (19 February 2009)

Barely two weeks after Christine Collins' (Angelina Jolie)son Walter disappears, the Rev. Gustav Briegleb (John Malkovich) is raging against the Los Angeles police department in his church and on the radio. We quickly realize that things in 1928 are not good in the City of Angels.
What is going on? Why is Capt. J.J. Jones (Jeffrey Donovan) so adamant that the boy they found is Walter Collins? Can't they believe a mother knows her own son? Angelina Jolie is beyond fantastic in this film. She plays the distraught, then doubtful/angry mother to perfection.
When the LAPD is faced with an embarrassing situation, we see just how corrupt they, and the animals that run the County psychiatric facility, are.
Detective Lester Ybarra (Michael Kelly) discovers what really happened, and, despite the efforts of Capt. Jones, manages to reveal the horror. With the help of Rev. Briegleb, she gets a pro bono lawyer (Geoffrey Pierson) and all hell breaks loose.
The cinematography was outstanding and added to the overall feeling of the period. The screenplay, the sound, the costumes, and Clint Eastwood's direction were all superb.
Jason Butler Harner was absolutely perfect as the slime-ball that was only marginally worse than the police and the staff of the psychiatric facility.
Angelina Jolie. I rest my case.