changeling  

After two historical war films, "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters from Iwo Jima", Director Clint Eastwood now brings to the big screen the real life case of a 9-year old boy, Walter Collins, whose disappearance in 1928 led to the exposure of a series of murders and the revamp of the corrupt L.A. Police Department. "Changeling" is written by former journalist Michael Straczynski who's best known for "Murder She Wrote".

Angelina Jolie plays Christine Collins, a single mother who works as a telephone switchboard supervisor. Her world revolves on her son, Walter (Gattlin Griffith), a good boy. On March 10, 1928, she is required to work on a Saturday. She tells Walter she'll be home before dark. When she returns home, he is nowhere to be found. She reports this to the cops but she's told most kids eventually return home safely and they have to wait until a 24-hour waiting period ends. They later do work on the case but days pass by and nothing is happening.

Five months later, Capt. JJ Jones (Jeffrey Donovan) tells Christine they have found their son in Illinois and a reunion is set up in front of the press to help beef up the police's bad image. But it turns out the boy found by the police is an impostor and she becomes very vocal about the mistake of being given a changeling who's 3 inches shorter than her Walter and is not even recognized by his dentist and teacher.

To silence her, the cops commit her at the psychopathic ward where she meets other women put away there to stifle their complaints about police wrong-doing. A prostitute, Carol Dexter (Amy Ryan of "Gone Baby Gone"), teaches her how to play along with their sadistic doctor, Dr. Steel (Dennis O'Hare). Christine finds an ally in a popular radio preacher, Rev. Gustav Briegleb (John Malkovich), who has no hesitation in attacking the corruption of the police force. Rev. Gustav demands her release just before she gets subjected to shock treatment.

Another cop, Det. Lester Ybarra (Michael Kelly) is in search of a teenage boy, Sanford Clark (Eddie Alderson), who got into the U.S. illegally from Canada. He goes to the Northcott ranch in Wineville to look for him. When the boy is apprehended, he narrates a hair-raising story about how he and his serial killer uncle. Gordon Northcott (Jason Butler Harner), abducted and dismembered 20 boys. He identifies Walter's picture as one of their victims. This case became notoriously known as The Wineville Chicken Coop Murders and it also became one of the most infamous criminal investigations in Southern California during its time.

The police chief tries to cover things up, but Rev. Gustave gets the free services of a good lawyer, S.S. Hahn (Geoff Pierson), and brings the Collins case to the City Council hearings. Christine then faces not only the cops but also the trial of Northcott, the serial murderer who teases her with the truth about her son right until his death sentence in San Quentin prison is served, with him singing "Silent Night" up to the very end.

The film loses its emotional impact when it strays from its focus on Christine's story and devotes more time on the subplot about the investigation that leads to the discovery of the serial killer. But Clint Eastwood does a successful job in interweaving the two narrative threads. Of course, Christine's personal story is really more absorbing since the grief of a mother losing her son is heartredning. We're just wondering, though, why Christine didn't right away present any photo of her son that would prove that the boy presented to her is fake? Of course, today, that will no longer be a problem since it's easy to resort to DNA testing.

Angelina is impressive as the no-nonsense assassin in the earlier action film, "Wanted", and just like in "A Mighty Heart" (also based on a true story but never released here, where she played the widow of slain journalist Daniel Pearl), she's also superb as Christine. She starts as a happy mom who later reacts to her son's disappearance as any mom would. But as days pass by, her anger and determination swell up until she becomes the nemesis of the entire LAPD. Giving standout support are Jason Butler Harner as the sinister psychotic murderer, Geoff Pierson as Christine's authoritative lawyer, and John Malkovich in a very muted performance as the crusading preacher.

The film has great production values, particularly the cinematography by Tom Stern (who also did Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby"), the period design by James Murakami (who also did Eastwood's "Letters from Iwo Jima"), the costumes by Deborah Hopper (who also did Eastwood's "Mystic River" and "Million Dollar Baby"), and the poignant musical score by Eastwood himself. Visually, it can compare to some other superb films about Los Angeles in the past, like "Chinatown" and "L.A. Confidential". Some viewers might complain that the film has an open-ended ending and they'd want a more definite closure. But sad to say, what happened to Walter is really unresolved in real life. To find more about the case on which the film is based, just type Wineville Chickencoop Murders on the net and you'd be able to read various other details not supplied in the film.