Alert the Academy...

The opening title frames of Clint Eastwood’s new crime drama Changeling reveal to the audience that what we are about to see is indeed “a true story”. It’s the kind of blatant preface that makes you feel as though Eastwood is telling us this up front because it’s the only way we are going to believe one second of the story we are about to hear. Seasoned actor and now lucrative director Clint Eastwood delivers his newest searing drama that is often times very enthralling but ultimately panders to the critics who will choose this year’s oscar winners.

Changeling, inspired by actual events taking place in 1920’s LA tells the story of single-mother Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie) whose life is forever changed when her young son is abducted. When the LAPD assumedly retrieves the wrong boy and returns him to Collins, she begins to suspect that she is the victim of a scheme to cover up the city officials’ ineptitude in solving the case. In a turn of events reminiscent of the Twilight Zone, virtually every person in uniform Collins tries to get to help her convinces her that she is the victim of post- traumatic stress. The plot thickens when Collins is forcibly sent to a mental health hospital and a ranch containing the bodies of 20 young boys is unearthed. The film preys heavily on audience’s emotions, in fact it does so much that its tactics begin to wear thin about half-way through the film.

Changeling is beautifully photographed and fairly well acted. Jolie is strong in the lead, and John Malkovich offers a somewhat riveting performance as a local pastor who comes to Collins’ aide by speaking out against injustice and political corruption. The film is so formulaic and melo-dramatic however, that it is ultimately nothing more than an exercise in creating a film that desperately tries to garner itself with accolade. It is a story that is indeed unbelievable but perhaps a snapshot of life in the pre-DNA age, where the instant verification of the relationship between mother and said son would be undeniable. Its faults aren’t so much numerous as they are glaringly obvious. Powerful scenes linger within the epic scope that the film tries to inhabit.

2.5/5