Changeling
Rated: R
Runtime: 2 hours, 21 minutes
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Starring:
Angelina Jolie - Christine Collins
John Malkovich - Rev. Gustav Briegleb
Jeffrey Donovan - Capt. J.J. Jones
Colm Feore - Chief James E. Davis
Michael Kelly - Detective Lester Ybarra
Jason Butler Harner - Gordon Northcott
Geoff Pierson - S.S. Hahn
Amy Ryan - Carol Dexter
There are many stories crammed into Clint Eastwood's latest film, Changeling. Sadly, Eastwood follows the least interesting one and in a commendable attempt to build a film around a strong female role, he's managed to make a two-hour tale of a shrinking violet whose world rises and falls based on the men in her life making the big decisions.
The year was 1928. The place: Los Angeles. People didn't yet know they should be afraid of everyone and everything and thus single mom Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie) ended up leaving her ten-year-old son Walter alone for the day while she went to work. When she came home, Walter was gone and twenty-four hours later when the police finally decided to act, the search began for her missing boy. Five months later, the police return a boy who claims to be Walter but Christine vehemently cries that it's not her son. Walter is now three inches shorter and circumcised and eventually the police captain J.J. Jones (Jeffrey Donovan) gets tired of her whining and her "facts" and decides to throw her in the nuthouse.
This is where Christine is supposed to show her true resolve as she stands up to the icy nurses and the misogynistic head doctor. And just as she's about to get some electro-shock therapy, crusading pastor Rev. Gustav Briegleb (John Malkovich) bursts through the door and saves the day! Together with the help of a kick-ass lawyer, Briegleb and Christine work together to bring down the LAPD. And by work together, I mean Christine hides beneath her hat and lets the men do all the hard work. Christine is not a person but a pawn and you can see the disconnect through the casting of Angelina Jolie. Jolie is famous for playing strong, rebellious characters and to have her play someone as abused and timid as Christine is complete miscasting. Her devotion to her son is never in doubt but her constant confusion at her circumstances is endlessly frustrating.
Almost as a cruel taunt of where an interesting movie might go, we get a parallel story of the child murderer Gordon Northcott (Jason Butler Harner) and his twisted tale as it weaves back into what happened to Walter Collins. This, along with how the LAPD got so corrupt, are the interesting plotlines that Changeling notices but does not pursue. Every time we see Northcott, Harner is chewing every piece of scenery he can find as if to shout, "Look at me! I'm the interesting story! Not that mopey, do-nothing single mom!"
And while it's not one of the film's major flaws, I would like to take this moment to say to Mr. Eastwood: hire a real composer. Your minimalist piano pieces are no longer serving your pictures and it feels like you just lifted your work from Mystic River and dropped it into this film with a few minor changes.
I like the idea of Changeling and while I think this may be Eastwood's least subtle film to date, where it truly falters is in misunderstanding its protagonist and then distracting the audience with more enticing stories in the periphery.
Words by
Matt Goldberg
10.29.08