Sometimes you want a film that is light and fluffy, like a pillow full of rainbows. Something that will lift your spirits, make you chuckle and put a spring in your step.
Be warned. This is not that film.
Changeling is one of the most harrowing movies I’ve ever seen. Directed by
Clint Eastwood and starring
Angelina Jolie, it tells the true story of Christine Collins, a single mum in the ‘20s, who comes home one day to find her son missing.
After a frustrating attempt to get the police to take her missing persons report seriously, Collins is overjoyed when they call to tell her that young Walter has been found. Only thing is, the kid that they return is not Walter.
When she tries to point out the mix up, the police convince her that she's in shock, and that her son has just "changed a little" in the five months he's been gone.
The more she protests, the more they insist. And so begins the gruelling battle to get her son back.
One of the reasons this film is so harrowing is the misogynist attitude of the LAPD in the ‘20s. It makes you want to scream. Women are treated as fragile, unstable and untrustworthy creatures and when they dare to speak up, they’re condemned as crazy.
It's also intense as the hits just KEEP ON COMING for poor Christine Collins. Just as she deals with one trauma, another rears its head and smacks her back down. It's something of a cinematic rollercoaster - you keep expecting some resolution, but the downward spiral is relentless.
The film also contains one of the most confronting capital punishment scenes I’ve ever seen. Remember the horror of the electric chair moment in
The Green Mile?
Changeling has a scene that triggers a similar feeling of unease. The tension that Eastwood manages to create in the film's darkest hour is remarkable.
Having acknowledged that the film is hard-going emotionally, it's important to point out that it's also incredibly well made.
Jolie is superb as Christine Collins - she eminates such frustration and pain, that you almost want to scream out in sympathy with her.
John Malkovich’s character, the wonderfully helpful Rev. Gustav Briegleb, is suitably heroic, but I can’t get over his weird, monotone style. If you need an example of what I’m talking about,
this clip should do the trick.
Special mention must also go to relative new-comer,
Jason Butler Harner, who plays the villainous Gordon Northcott. It’s been a while since a character has given me the heebie-jeebies in such an intense way ... though I may be completely off the mark here, as it turns out
he’s been nominated for a Razzie for this performance. Bummer.
Occasionally the film comes dangerously close to tumbling into corny Hollywood mainstream territory. There are plenty of “big moments”, and every now and then you feel like the emotion is being rammed down your throat. Because of this, there's a good chance the film will cop a bit of criticism for not being “authentic”or “original” like a Kaufman or Coen bros. film.
But the fact of the matter is, this is a classic Hollywood drama made by a classic Hollywood veteran. And when you approach it accordingly, it's really quite remarkable.
Changeling opens in cinemas this Thursday.
You can view the Changeling trailer here on TheVine.