CHANGELING

Director: Clint Eastwood

Stars: Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Jeffrey Donovan, Amy Ryan, Jason Butler Harner, Michael Kelly

Year: 2008

Rating: R

Based on a harrowing true story, Changeling opens in March of 1928, in Los Angeles, and tells the story of Christine Collins - a "modern woman" who works hard as a telephone operator supervisor to help support herself and her 9-year-old son Walter, after her husband ran out on them some years ago.

Life's tough right now, but Christine and her son enjoy a good relationship; he means the world to her, and she escorts him to school on the trolley every day, trying to devote all her time outside work to him. One Saturday, when the two of them are supposed to go to a movie, Christine gets called into work instead and has to leave the dejected Walter at home alone, arranging for a couple of friends to look in on him as she promises to be home early. When works keeps her late, Christine arrives home as dark is just settling in ... only to find that Walter is nowhere to be found. After frantically searching the neighborhood and making phone calls to find him, Christine calls the police for help - only to learn that they won't do anything until her son has been missing at least twenty-four hours.

The next morning, a couple of cops finally come to take her report, and so begins a frantic search by the L.A. police for Walter Collins. It's important, to understand the film, to understand that the LAPD, back in 1928, was peopled with many corrupt cops and officials; many officers were on the take, and in fact a large group of those policemen out on the streets in that day were part of "The Gun Squad" - a group of vicious, cold-blooded men who were outright told to clean up crime (in those days, more like the competition) by killing whoever got in the way of doing so. Back in those days, you feared the police more than counted on them ...

Or so says Reverend Gustav Briegleb (John Malkovich), a local religious leader with his own radio show who is determined to end police and political corruption in Los Angeles (NOT an easy task, even today). To Briegleb, trusting the police is like putting your life on the line -

And no one knows this more than Christine Collins, who - five months after his disappearance - is overjoyed when Captain J. J. Jones (Jeffrey Donovan) contacts her to let her know they've found her son in DeKalb, Illinois. The reunion is arranged at a train station, with a battalion of reporters and photographers present to give the local police the much-needed dose of positive publicity they so desperately need ... only when "Walter Collins" steps off the train with the matron sent to collect him, Christine sees immediately that this is not her son.

She tells Jones, who refuses to believe her, trying to convince her that of course Walter looks different after his harrowing ordeal - paler, thinner, etc. - but Christine is buying none of it. At last, for the reporters' sake, Jones convinces her to play up that nothing is wrong - and eventually Christine takes the boy home, just because he has no one else, while she still pushes and pushes the police to continue the search for her son.

Things get ugly from here, as no one in law enforcement believes her - they think she's hysterical, delusional, and soon Christine is even accused of wanting to "dump" her son on the state so she can go back to enjoying the single life she got used to during his disappearance. The boy himself continues to swear he is Walter Collins, and won't waver in his story - even as Christine notices that this child is a few inches shorter than her son, and is circumcised when her son is not.

But the cops - particularly Captain Jones - come up with excuses for it all, even implying that Christine Collins is going mad. That's when Reverend Briegleb gets involved, working with Christine as she begins putting together written testimonials from Walter's dentist, teacher, etc. saying that this boy is NOT Walter Collins ... but by this time she's pushed too hard, causing too much trouble for the corrupt police, and a routine trip to the police station ends with Christine's being declared mentally incompetent and taken away to an asylum, where she learns just how deep (particularly when it comes to women) the corruption of those in charge extends.

Changeling is a beautifully acted and directed film, with a flawless performance by Angelina Jolie as real-life Christine Collins, a woman who fought to the end to learn the fate of her missing son. John Malkovich and Jeffrey Donovan head a strong supporting cast, in a film that remains tense throughout and will have you rooting for Christine every step of the way to not only find Walter, but to also get back at her attackers and expose them for what they are. Nominated for Oscars for cinematography, art direction, and best actress, the film deserved at least a fourth nod at Eastwood, who has proven himself over and over as one of the best directors in film today - here telling the tragic, yet life-affirming story of a mother determined to go to hell and back to bring her boy home. **** - Reel Awesome