Changeling

Movie Review: Changeling (*** out of 4 stars)

Year of Release: 2008

Country of Origin: USA

Director: Clint Eastwood

Cast: Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Gattlin Griffith, Michael Kelly

Plot outline: Single mother Christine Collins says goodbye to her nine-year-old son, Walter, and leaves for work. When she returns, she is confronted with every parent's worst nightmare: her son has vanished (IMDb).

The story (***)

How the story unfolds (*** Changeling isn’t just Eastwood’s latest grasp at Oscar gold, but it’s also that of Angelina Jolie. After her would-be Oscar contender from last year, A Mighty Heart, she picked a more mainstream project to seek out a second statuette -- ...and this is the core problem with this movie. While Changeling is a powerful movie with many solid performances, it’s obvious attempt to win awards gets in the way of telling a good story. There are so many Oscar clip moments in which Jolie’s character breaks down and cries, stands stalwart in the face of adversity or just screams and throws plates at the walls. It’s too much of a showcase on one actor.)

The characters (*** The other fly in the otherwise well-made movie is Jeffrey Donovan as the obnoxious and overbearing detective who goes to war with Christine Collins for no good reason. It’s like he’s trying to act outside of his ability, and it shows.)

The acting (***)

Overall rating *** out of 4 stars