Changeling
Based on true events, Clint Eastwood's Kafka-esque drama builds unremitting tension in its first half. Angelina Jolie is Christine Collins, whose son Walter vanished in 1928, and whom the LAPD had committed to a psychiatric hospital because she continued to insist the boy they'd returned to her was not her child. She ultimately found a champion in the crusading Reverend Gustav Briegleb (John Malkovich).
Eastwood's powerful direction includes a stark execution scene exposing the hypocritical atrocity of capital punishment. But whether it's a script or an editing issue, CHANGELING seemed to last hours and hours. The plot continues to thicken until the actors can barely wade through it, and the final line is forehead-slappingly stupid.
Jolie is badly miscast. Her turmoil becomes increasingly irritating: kohl-smeared eyes welling up at the drop of a cloche hat; a trembling, gloved hand pressed to her puffy lips ("You'll get lipstick on your glove!" I worried). I couldn't help feeling she should just punch out that smarmy Irish police captain (the delightfully creepy Jeffrey Donovan), then head to a third world country to adopt herself another son.
Format: Cinema
Mood: Nostalgic
Keywords: Angelina Jolie, Clint Eastwood
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