One to see: Changeling (2008)
February 6th 2009 02:20
There aren't many films being made in Hollywood today that have the ability to really touch their audiences. Many try, usually using the conventional tear-jerker formulas that, frankly, don't come close to jerking tears from me. Changeling was something else entirely - maybe it was the fact that it was a true story, or perhaps it was Angelina Jolie's flawless acting or Clint Eastwood's superb directing - whatever it was, as a drama, it worked.
Set in Los Angeles in 1928, Changeling follows the little-known story of Christine Collins (Jolie), a hardworking single mother whose son Walter goes missing one day. After a five-month investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department, Mrs Collins is told that her boy has been found. Her joy turns to anguish when she discovers that this boy is not, in fact, her son, but an imposter claiming to be Walter Collins. Christine is devastated and tries to get the police to keep looking for her son, but they refuse, saying that he's already been found. Christine is forced to look after the boy while the police continue to give her the brush-off.
Mrs Collins' plight begins to gain publicity when she is joined by a local pastor (played by the always-brilliant John Malkovich) whose aim in life is to expose the corrupt and utterly ineffective L.A.P.D. Her story becomes an embarrassment to the police and they have her thrown into an insane asylum, to keep her quiet and to back up their claim that Collins was either crazy not to recognise her own son, or a deserting mother shirking her maternal responsibilities. While in the asylum, Christine discovers other completely sane women who have been admitted for causing trouble for the Los Angeles police, and meanwhile, there's some creepy stuff going down in Illinois...
The cast is nothing short of wonderful. Jolie is one of the few actresses who can appear in almost every scene and yet still keep the audience captivated. In Changeling she displays incredible emotional depth - her performance really is Oscar-worthy. Even though she's been nominated against big players like Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet, I'll be surprised if she doesn't win. Jeffrey Donovan, who plays the implacable, scheming police Captain Jones, is also fantastic; his character is just too easy to hate. And do you remember back in the day when child actors were only required to spout their lines while not looking at the camera? Not anymore - every single child actor in this film (and there are many) is totally believable, some astoundingly so.
Clint Eastwood has firmly established himself as a top Hollywood director with films like Mystic River (which won an Oscar) and Gran Turino (out in cinemas very soon), and Changeling is an impressive addition to his resume. The pace of the film is perfect; there's no obvious exposition or stilted movements, and every scene not vital to the story has been cut. It's captivating from start to finish, and is at times brutal in its depictions of Christine's nightmarish situation but is never gratuitously so. There are moments of black humour that had me chuckling - it's not all dark! And the compassion that the people of Los Angeles show for Christine is very heartwarming: it keeps your faith in the good side of humanity while contrasting starkly with the actions of the L.A.P.D.
As a woman I feel a connection with characters who lose their children (remember Double Jeopardy with Ashley Judd? Loved it) but my boyfriend described Changeling as being too "heavy" for his liking. It's a good kind of heavy, though - the kind that draws you in from the start and leaves you with a sense of just how lucky you are not to have experienced what Christine Collins did. And the fact that it is a true story, with only minor Hollywood embellishments, cements its status as one of the top dramatic films of last year.
Set in Los Angeles in 1928, Changeling follows the little-known story of Christine Collins (Jolie), a hardworking single mother whose son Walter goes missing one day. After a five-month investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department, Mrs Collins is told that her boy has been found. Her joy turns to anguish when she discovers that this boy is not, in fact, her son, but an imposter claiming to be Walter Collins. Christine is devastated and tries to get the police to keep looking for her son, but they refuse, saying that he's already been found. Christine is forced to look after the boy while the police continue to give her the brush-off.
Mrs Collins' plight begins to gain publicity when she is joined by a local pastor (played by the always-brilliant John Malkovich) whose aim in life is to expose the corrupt and utterly ineffective L.A.P.D. Her story becomes an embarrassment to the police and they have her thrown into an insane asylum, to keep her quiet and to back up their claim that Collins was either crazy not to recognise her own son, or a deserting mother shirking her maternal responsibilities. While in the asylum, Christine discovers other completely sane women who have been admitted for causing trouble for the Los Angeles police, and meanwhile, there's some creepy stuff going down in Illinois...
The cast is nothing short of wonderful. Jolie is one of the few actresses who can appear in almost every scene and yet still keep the audience captivated. In Changeling she displays incredible emotional depth - her performance really is Oscar-worthy. Even though she's been nominated against big players like Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet, I'll be surprised if she doesn't win. Jeffrey Donovan, who plays the implacable, scheming police Captain Jones, is also fantastic; his character is just too easy to hate. And do you remember back in the day when child actors were only required to spout their lines while not looking at the camera? Not anymore - every single child actor in this film (and there are many) is totally believable, some astoundingly so.
Jolie and Malkovich
Clint Eastwood has firmly established himself as a top Hollywood director with films like Mystic River (which won an Oscar) and Gran Turino (out in cinemas very soon), and Changeling is an impressive addition to his resume. The pace of the film is perfect; there's no obvious exposition or stilted movements, and every scene not vital to the story has been cut. It's captivating from start to finish, and is at times brutal in its depictions of Christine's nightmarish situation but is never gratuitously so. There are moments of black humour that had me chuckling - it's not all dark! And the compassion that the people of Los Angeles show for Christine is very heartwarming: it keeps your faith in the good side of humanity while contrasting starkly with the actions of the L.A.P.D.
Jolie with director Clint Eastwood
As a woman I feel a connection with characters who lose their children (remember Double Jeopardy with Ashley Judd? Loved it) but my boyfriend described Changeling as being too "heavy" for his liking. It's a good kind of heavy, though - the kind that draws you in from the start and leaves you with a sense of just how lucky you are not to have experienced what Christine Collins did. And the fact that it is a true story, with only minor Hollywood embellishments, cements its status as one of the top dramatic films of last year.
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Comment by Michelle Sweeney
Competition Queen
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Gran Torino is out now in Australia and it's sensational - review on my site www.saltypopcorn.com
Great review - u have fueled my excitement in viewing it!