Movie Review - 'Changeling'

Changeling Starring Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, and Jeffrey Donovan Directed by Clint Eastwood Rated R

You will not find Wineville, California on the map. It's there geographically, not far from Ontario International Airport west of Riverside. But now it's called Mira Loma. Between 1928 and 1930, Wineville was the site of a series of deplorable, sickening acts against children that became known in the press as the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders. In part because Wineville is now Mira Loma, this is not something we hear a lot about, although it's another embarrassing chapter in the long, sordid history of the Los Angeles Police Department.But that's only part of this story. Changeling is really about a mother, Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie), whose son goes missing. After a five-month search, the boy is returned, only Collins immediately says the child is not her son. There are physical differences, sure, which police and medical experts tell her would be common in such a case, but Collins wonders if she wouldn't, in fact, "know" her son.You would think the LAPD would be in a hurry to correct their mistake, or at least listen to Collins' arguments. The person in charge of the investigation, J.J. Jones (Jeffrey Donovan), refuses to admit any wrongdoing or even oversight, and tries to suppress Collins and her story. A local man of the cloth (John Malkovich) takes her under his wing, offering to do what the LAPD has not: Protect and serve.Then we start to get to the truth, what makes this a story worth telling. And it's not pretty.As very good actresses go, Angelina Jolie might get the least amount of credit for her ability. Because she's a tabloid target, that makes some sense. People think of her in different terms: Beautiful, glamorous, arm-in-arm with Brad Pitt, mother of children from all over the world, freak, movie star, and hopefully, philanthropist and activist. But she doesn't make a lot of headlines as an actress, even though she's won an Oscar, should've been nominated last year for A Mighty Heart, and could be nominated for Changeling, as well. She's the right choice to play Christine Collins for several reasons. She fits the era physically, and her tough, independent nature and doubtless adoration of motherhood can be seen and believed as Collins goes down so many dead end roads looking for her son. It is not her best performance to date, but it would be for the vast majority of the actresses in the world.As the murderer, Jason Butler Harner might give you the heebie-jeebies. Portraying serial killers is tricky business. It can go wrong in a hurry. But Harner taps into something we don't want to acknowledge, even though we can see it's the truth. Even still, he creates a character not a caricature, and as we always maintain, there's a big difference.Reflecting on this film is better than watching it. Reading about the Chicken Coop Murders and realizing how accurately they've been portrayed here tells us a lot about Clint Eastwood as a storyteller. The names have not been changed to protect the innocent (or the guilty), grisly nature of the crimes has not been overemphasized, nor has he played fast and loose with the fallout that plagued the LAPD following this incident. He has really only made one noticeable break from the available facts of the case, but it's minor and serves the dramatic arc very well. Another reason to give this one thought after you leave the theater - and, admittedly, you may not want to for a while - is to put into perspective the moral shift Clint Eastwood has made in the past 35 years. He is best known to American audiences as Dirty Harry, a cop who was above the law. He wasn't lawless, but Harry Callahan knew that justice has to be served. And justice has probably been the one word and concept that can link most of Eastwood's films, from Dirty Harry to Josey Wales to The Unforgiven to Mystic River to Million Dollar Baby to Changeling. It burns within the stories he wants to tell, but his position on what justice is might have changed. This film condemns a police department for its fascism and its practices, even though the LAPD eventually gets its man. Now Eastwood asks, correctly, what about those left behind? Where's their justice?