Movie Review - Changeling (starring Angelina Jolie)

I usually like to watch at least one Oscar-nominated film before the Oscars. This year I’ve chosen Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling,” with Angelina Jolie, which I watched yesterday.

I originally wanted to watch it in theatres, but I never really got around it, being the procrastination freak I am. The movie is shot in a muted palette, or in other words, it’s very gray, I guess for the depressing effect. It looked appealing in the trailer.

It’s 1928, and Angelina Jolie plays Christine Collins, a mother who left her son at home while she went to work, only to come back with her son gone. The corrupted Los Angeles Police Department isn’t much help - they give her the wrong boy. And the story continues about how she keeps trying to find her (real) son, and the LAPD keeps trying to tell her that the boy they gave her is her son… and I won’t spoil the ending.

At first it may not seem like much… a mother loses her son? Hardly exciting. Even the back story is more horrid and more graphic. But Changeling’s poignance lies behind its story of a woman who never gives up and never loses hope. Despite all the misogynistic threats, the tricks, and the torture the LAPD puts her through, Christine Collins keeps on trying to stand up to the system, corrupted as it is, to find her son.

Changeling is without doubt an inspirational movie, and inspirational movies usually leave me happy and uplifted when I’m finished watching. Changeling was different. Some of the parts are truly hard to watch, and mostly consist of various victims screaming and the various authorities in emotionless silence. These disgusting scenes replay in your head even once the movie is done. The creepy music throughout the film and in the ending credits do not help.

The most amazing part is that this shocking movie is a true story. According to the writer, he found this in the LA City Hall records, and he researched through newspapers. I’m sure they tweaked things up a bit, but the general plot and the original names are all preserved. The fact that this movie is, or is based on, a true story makes it that much more compelling.

Now is when I think I will mention that Angelina Jolie does an amazing job in this movie. I’ve only watched two of her movies before this, Mr and Mrs Smith and Tomb Raider, both commercial, box-office movies that I hardly warmed up to. In Changeling, her true acting talents show.  As an anecdote, she also wears an ostentatious red lipstick and these little round hats.

I know Changeling wasn’t one of the big Oscar movies of the year, but Angelina did get nominated for Best Actress and I wanted to see her in a good performance. I wasn’t let down.

The scenes in Changeling are still replaying in my head. And the great thing about movie rentals is that you can watch them again. I always take advantage of Blockbuster’s no late fees policy.