Changeling ~~~

Ok, I have to admit that this is a well made film, that the story is pretty unconventional and that Ms Jolie is pretty splendid. Clint Eastwood directed, you couldn't go very wrong with a film so imbued with class and professionalism. Unfortunately, it's just a bit too much for me. A little too emotional and far too perfect.

Jolie plays a mother who dotes on her son. A 'regular' mum working hard to support herself and her child in a world unsympathetic to lone women trying to make their way through life. We see how hard she works and how compromise to continue working leads to the terrible disappearance of her boy. Jolie's acting lends an immediate sense of desperation to the movie whilst the police and media do their best, at first, to support her. As the flip-side of the story unfolds, we also see the police's desperation to find her son. When they can't find an immediate solution, they provide her with another boy and pressurise her to accept him as her own. When she refuses, both the police then the media ridicule and finally incarcerate her.

Jolie's most successful scenes, for me, are those whilst she is locked away, primarily because they are reminiscent of her earlier work in the brilliant film 'Girl, Interrupted' where she displayed magnificent tenderness mixed with violent desperation, as she does here. The shocking realisation that society used to treat women who spoke out, caused trouble or who were forced to prostitute themselves as mental-cases and whom they locked up indefinitely was the most important message within the film for me.

As the film progresses it is shocking to discover the number of disappeared children but worse is yet to come when we discover where they all ended up. The story does seem, on the surface, to follow the story of Jolie, the mother, and the problems she faces but ultimately it's a rather good study of society and how the media is used to re-write the truth. I really liked the seemingly honest portrayal of the women of the time, how their 'nature' is held up to be their weakness yet in turn how they hold families together. By the end of the film, although truly shocking on many levels, the fate of the children seems almost secondary to the elements of police manipulation, societal bigotry and the decent into 'modern' life.

Eastwood really is a magnificent director, cool, calm and observant. Jolie though didn't quite fit the role for me although she is a great crier and does 'hysterical' almost better than anyone in Hollywood. A little wooden though except, as mentioned, when locked up. Not sure what that says about Ms Jolie, though.

A recommended film but be prepared to blub AND to hid behind the proverbial pillow.

Viewed: 26th November 2008