Did the dingoes eat Angelina Jolie’s baby? Find out in Clint Eastwood’s period mystery Changeling.

Changeling
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Starring Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Jeffrey Donovan, Jason Butler Harner
***

Has the LAPD ever been depicted positively in a movie? I only ask because it seems like Hollywood takes pleasure in regularly treating Los Angeles’ finest as a motley crew of liars, screw-ups and psychos. Even when the cops are the ostensible heroes of the picture—think Lethal Weapon or Bad Boys—they always manage to rack up hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage in the process of collaring the bad guys. Apparently, the LAPD has always been the bane of the city’s existence because police corruption plays a role in almost every period movie made about Los Angeles, from Chinatown to L.A. Confidential.

Clint Eastwood’s latest directorial effort—his 28th if you can believe that—Changeling, continues that trend. Set in the late 1920s, the film recounts the incredible true story of Christine Collins (played here by Angelina Jolie, in a performance that seems like a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination), a single mother who returned home from work one afternoon to discover her young son Walter missing from the small bungalow they shared. Naturally she turns to the police, but from the beginning they prove to be singularly unhelpful in locating her child. Months pass without any progress in the case until news arrives that boy fitting Walter’s description has been located in the Midwest. He’s immediately put on a train bound for Los Angeles and his mother counts the hours, minutes and seconds until her son is back in her arms. With reporters in tow, the beleaguered police force—already the subject of harsh press criticism for their rampant corruption—escort Christine to the train station for a joyous and publicity-friendly reunion. There’s only one problem: the boy that steps off the train isn’t Walter Collins.

That’s the irresistible hook that sets up the rest of Eastwood’s ambitious two-hour plus drama. Despite Christine’s repeated claims that the police have returned the wrong child, the department turns a deaf ear to her protests, even going as far as to lock her away in a mental institution until she comes around to their way of thinking. The only person who believes her is Gustav Briegleb (John Malkovich), a crusading priest and activist who has made it his mission to bring the LAPD’s many misdeeds to light. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Christine or her new benefactor, a horrific crime scene is discovered on a remote farm to the north of the city. It appears that the property’s owner, a recluse named Gordon Northcott (Jason Butler Harner), has been kidnapping and killing little boys, burying their remains in a mass grave. Could Walter have been one of his victims? And if he was, would Christine be happier believing that he was still out there somewhere, waiting to be found?

Changeling was written by geek icon J. Michael Straczynski, who created the cult sci-fi series Babylon 5 and has penned such comics as Rising Stars and The Amazing Spider-Man. This is his first feature film script to make it to the big screen, not to mention the only one that doesn’t involve aliens or super-powered heroes in colorful spandex. But the same elements that distinguish his work in those arenas are apparent here as well, most notably his sure hand at constructing a sprawling narrative that covers a lot of ground with few wasted moments. As each new turn in this mystery is revealed, the film always seems on the verge of spiraling out of control, but Straczynski deftly keeps the various balls in the air.

He’s helped in that department by the films director and star, who also have little patience for distractions. One of the least showy filmmakers in Hollywood, Eastwood’s preference for clean, uncluttered frames is an appropriate counterpoint to the busy plot. As for Jolie, she repeatedly cuts to the emotional heart of every scene. No doubt drawing on her own experiences as a mother, she convincingly shows us how Christine’s desperation leaves her susceptible to the cops’ suggestions that she’s the one who has made a mistake, but then gives her the ferocity necessary to take her case all the way to the city council.

If I had to rank Changeling against the films Eastwood’s recent output, I’d put it ahead of Mystic River and Flags of Our Fathers, but behind Letters of Iwo Jima and Million Dollar Baby. Even though the movie keeps us involved throughout its lengthy runtime, it would have benefited from some judicious trimming in the final act, which contains more endings than the last Lord of the Rings flick. Straczynski’s normally reliable ear for dialogue also fails him at times, resulting in some laughably clunky line readings. Nevertheless, Changeling succeeds as both a compelling mystery and a period piece that still feels relevant today. Just don’t expect it to be a favorite amongst the LAPD.

Verdict: See It

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Also Opening in Limited Release

Fear(s) of the Dark
***1/2
This freaky anthology of French horror cartoons is about as far away from Disney as you can get. Six different artists and illustrators contributed short animated films to the project and it goes without saying that some are better than others. The standouts include the Kafkaesque tale of a sexually repressed entomologist who begins dating a woman with a dark (and possibly bug-related) secret and a spooky story about a nocturnal creature terrorizing a small village. Less effective is an anime-style hallucination involving a young girl and a mad scientist and the random bits of abstract animation that act as unnecessary chapter breaks. Still, the final cartoon alone—a brilliant haunted house adventure told with virtually no dialogue—makes Fear(s) of the Dark a must-see for any horror fan.
Verdict: See It

Let the Right One In
***
And after those horror fans are done with Fear(s) of the Dark they should make a beeline for Let the Right One In, an inventive, if uneven, spin on the vampire genre, which is suddenly back in vogue following HBO’s True Blood and the upcoming Twilight. Set in Sweden, the film follows the strange friendship that develops between a picked-upon boy and his next-door neighbor—a withdrawn girl with a serious blood addiction. While the two young actors deliver strong star turns, many of the supporting performances (particularly the bullies who constantly torment our hero) are downright amateurish, to the point where they threaten to completely derail the film’s low-key realism. But director Tomas Alfredson saves the day with a terrific ending that contains the best decapitation I’ve seen since Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof.
Verdict: See It

Ben X
***
Bullying also plays a major role in Ben X, a Belgian film about a teenager with Asperger’s Syndrome (a form of autism) who escapes from his ordinary life through one of those massively mutliplayer online fantasy games.  In the virtual world, he’s a heroic swordsman, quick with a blade and smooth with the ladies…particularly a lady named Scarlite, who is his frequent companion on his various quests.  In reality though, Ben is ignored or actively despised by most of his peers, who take great pleasure in his repeated humiliations at the hands of three schoolyard punks.  It’s only a matter of time until the poor kid hurts himself or someone else and flash-forwards that are peppered throughout the movie suggest we’re in store for a major tragedy.  But Ben X never quite goes where you expect it to; writer/director Nic Balthazar has several surprises up his sleeve, although he outsmarts himself in the end with a climactic scene that doesn’t really make logical sense.  Still, full credit to him for working MMOG footage into the movie in such a creative, seamless manner.   It’s fair to say that more than a few hardcore gamers will see elements of their personality reflected in the title character.
Verdict: See It