Jolie goes for gold with new drama
Clint Eastwood has long been applauded for his ability to draw unprecedented performances from his female leads (Hilary Swank in “Million Dollar Baby” immediately comes to mind). Angelina Jolie’s (“Wanted”) Christine Collins, a mother searching for her vanished son, is a heartbreaking character and frequently helpless, but determined. Viewers accustomed to Jolie’s Amazon-babe roles may find her frequently trembling frame rather jarring. Her oft-golden features have been drained of color, save her famously full lips drenched in red lipstick, the lines between breathtaking beauty and the grotesque is in constant flux.
The movie began in black and white. “A true story.” Not “based on a true story.” Not “inspired by a true story.” A true story. As color gradually filtered into the picture, it retained a spectrum, a la films released in the late 1970s, that restricts the color from ever becoming warm. The cinematography was fitting considering the chilling nature of the story.
The year is 1928. Collins, a single mother living in Los Angeles, comes home from work to find that her son Walter (Gattlin Griffith, “Eli Stone”) has disappeared.
The Los Angeles Police Department is unhelpful on the outset, refusing to dispatch anyone to look for Walter until the next day. When the LAPD does take the case, their lackadaisical response is reprimanded by the Rev. Gustav Briegleb (John Malkovich, “Burn After Reading”) who broadcasts his sermons on the radio.
Briegleb has made it his life’s mission to expose the corrupt LAPD, whose practices of intimidation and brutality have haunted the streets of Los Angeles. In an attempt to offset the bad publicity surrounding the force, Captain J.J. Jones (Jeffrey Donovan, “Burn Notice”) stages a reunion for Christine and a boy who matches the description of Walter they found in Illinois.
Christine immediately recognizes that the boy is not her son, but takes him after Jones pressures her to take “Walter” home on a trial basis, that “Walter” probably went through changes and she couldn’t be thinking clearly.
Christine does watch over imposter Walter (Devon Conti), but continues to pressure Jones to resume the search for her son, while gathering signed documents from the dentist and Walter’s teachers that the stand-in given to her was a fraud. Jones accuses Christine of shirking her responsibility of motherhood, then of insanity and orders her to be placed in the Los Angeles Psychiatric Ward.
During Christine’s horrific asylum stay, another story comes to light. (Warning: “Changeling” is long. Uncomfortably long.) Here ties in the disturbing case of the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders. A chase for a border-traipsing Sanford Clark (Eddie Alderson, “Reservation Road”) turns into a chase for Clark’s uncle, Gordon Northcott (Jason Butler Harner, “Fringe”), who purportedly abducted approximately 20 young boys and axe murdered the lot. Clark identifies one of the murdered boys to be Walter Collins.
Rev. Briegleb dramatically rescues Christine from the asylum and a series of trials begin as Christine sues the LAPD, and Gordon Northcott is captured and brought to court. The cohesiveness of the plot starts to waver here, as more and more aspects of the Wineville murders come to light and starts to seem a daunting task to tie together. Here one may look at their watch and realize with some dismay that there is still another hour to get through.
Essentially, a slew of P.S. moments drag out the movie’s last minutes. The components of “Changeling” are the talented actors and actresses, but Eastwood fails to gather all the pieces of the story in the frustrating last leg.
“Changeling,” at best, is a highly dramatized horror that exposes injustices suffered by women at the hands of those meant to protect. At worst, a fragmented period piece, I recommend it purely for Jolie’s Oscar-worthy performance.
‘Changeling’
Release Date: Oct. 31
Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Jeffrey Donovan, John Malkovich and Colm Feore
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Rating: Rated R for some violent, disturbing content, and language.
Grade: B-
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on Tuesday, November 4th, 2008 at 2:45 am and is filed under Arts & Entertainment, Film Reviews, Vibe.
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