2008 Writer
VixenViewTreasures
Coventryville, PA
Very moving portrayal of a woman's struggle to find her lost son
4 star rating

I believe in honesty, noticing the details
Pros

    Historical cinematography well done, Strong emotional acting


NOV
15
2008

The Changeling — 

This is a true story that takes place in Los Angeles in the late 1920's. It follows a mother's  desperate attempts to have the police locate her son after she finds him missing when she returns home from work.  As the story unfolds police corruption becomes strongly apparent.  Mrs. Collins is a woman brave enough to stand-up for what she believes despite society beliefs of the time, and she pays the consequences of defying the traditional male dominate order.

Mrs. Collins (Angelina Jolie) finds that she is first met with unhelpfulness as the Police refuse to look for her son until he is missing for 24 hours.  She struggles for weeks, then months to get the police to do their job.  Then, after 5 months, the police tell her that her son has been found.  What happens instead is that they give her a boy that is close in appearance, but is not actually her son (a boy that it later turns out is possible they coached to identify himself as such).  Even as she immediately and continually denies the child being her son, the police tell her she is wrong and has "experts" state the reasons for the differences she is telling them about; therefore, all the experts are correct and she is wrong.  The police captain (Jeffery Donovan) continues to defend his error and uses his power to portray her as hysterical and misguided to "put her in her place".  The more she fights it, the more they pressure her and start accusing her of neglecting her "parental duties".  In addition to Mrs. Collins' lost son, it turns out there are many more boys missing from the L.A. area that have never been found.  Mrs. Collins is joined in her fight to keep searching for her son by a Reverend who makes a difference in the battle against the corrupt police department.  There is also a break in the case when one police officer (Michael Kelly) has an unexpected witness that gives him information he needs - a reason to doubt what has been happening on the case.  He then works towards finding the truth.

The entire movie is gripping because it makes you aware of things that went on in the past that society allowed to happen for its fear of upsetting the balance.  Yes, there are some horribly disturbing parts, and sadly that is the reality of what happened, they are done well and are not glorified; Eastwood does a good job of helping you feel the intensity without overdoing it.  You feel sympathy towards Mrs. Collins' plight, then anger at what happens to her.  This is not one of those movies to show violence just for the point of showing it as Hollywood seems to do so much of lately, where the violence is done it is necessary to the story.

Should you see it - depends on your motivation.  Do you like true stories and like to know what really happened instead of glossed over and you can tolerate some deep content, then yes.  If not, save your money and go watch a comedy.  This is not for the light hearted but it is very good.

Rating: R for violent and disturbing content, and language.
Genre: Drama and Thriller
Running time: 2 hours and 20 minutes
Director: Clint Eastwood (also did the music)
Actor/Actresses:
Angelina Jolie - Christine Collins
Jeffery Donovan - Captain J.J. Jones (Burn Notice...)
Gattlin Griffith - Walter Collins (Eli Stone as young Eli: 1 episode, 2008)
Michael Kelly - Detective Lester Ybarra (The Sopranos, Law and Order...)
John Malkovich - Rev. Gustav Briegleb
Language: Yes
Nudity: brief, but not full

Eastwood does a great job with this movie; Jolie does a fine job of portraying the grief-stricken mother (minus the overly plump lips, she's very in character for the time period).  The time passes pretty quickly considering the length.  There are a couple of spots where you wonder why they are still dwelling on things, but by the end it becomes apparent.  Overall a this is a well done movie.

You can copy and paste the following URL to see the Changeling Trailer:  http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809945088/video/9690286/20080911/134/9690286-700-wmv-s.71447420-,9690286-1000-wmv-s.71447422-,9690286-100-wmv-s.71447414-,9690286-100-flash-s.71447424-,9690286-300-wmv-s.71447416-,9690286-700-flash-s.71447436-,9690286-300-flash-s.71447429-,9690286-1000-flash-s.71447439-,9690283-2700-qtv-s.71447440-,9690283-6800-qtv-s.71447441-,9690283-10300-qtv-s.71447444-

Last edited on Nov 15, 2008



I_thumb_up The Changeling is recommended by VixenViewTreasures

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VixenViewTreasures wrote on Dec 3, 2008 at 4:45AM

In response to GigiandAdonai's comment from Nov 30, 2008 at 11:20PM:

Thank YOU for reading! I don't like that movies seem to sprinkle so much language in movies on the belief it makes them better - it doesn't. Unfortunately, we are in the minority. That type of language doesn't have to be used to create a great movie, yet these days, I sadly hear it casually used on the streets, and people don't seem to think anything of what they are saying in front of children or others. It's not just the teens doing it during their rebellious stage, it's the teens that forget to grow up and the young adults and now older adults that just don't care. :( The problem with the language in this movie is not that there is a lot of it, but that the F-word is dropped a few times. :( It's one of those instances where a lesser supporting character makes an impact on the main character, and it's a lousy way of showing her strength, which is what I think they were trying to show by the complete change in the character. Funny I read somewhere that Jolie doesn't do a good job convincing people of her loss, I think for the time period depicted, she did an excellent job of presenting a woman that feels obligated to her time period and all the restrictions, while at the same time trying to fight for her son's life.

GigiandAdonai wrote on Nov 30, 2008 at 11:20PM

Thanks for a wonderful review. I wanted to see it but I stay away from R rated movies. I am easily offended with langauge. ~Gigi

VixenViewTreasures wrote on Nov 19, 2008 at 12:54PM

In response to this2shallpass19's comment from Nov 18, 2008 at 9:38AM:

Thank you for reading. :)

this2shallpass19 wrote on Nov 18, 2008 at 9:38AM

Thank you for this great review!

4 star rating
"Emotional Story"
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5 star rating
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