October
24
Eastwood's Changeling: Manna for Adults
I saw Changeling for the second time Thursday night. It's as good as I remember it from last May at Cannes. And it's just the kind of movie that Academy members will appreciate--it played well at the Academy premiere.
Clint Eastwood beautifully evokes Los Angeles in 1928, when women were passive creatures bossed around by men, when the LAPD was corrupt and lawless, and when the real Christine Collins made news headlines when the police tried to return to her a son who wasn't hers. When she refuses to submit to their version of the truth, they clap her in an insane asylum.
Angelina Jolie is more than fine as Collins. She says she modeled the role on her mother; she seems dead-on for the period. She's sympathetic; we care about her and root for her, and get very angry on her behalf. That may be what the movie has going for it the most, given our lack of trust in authority right now. The movie will play strictly for adults, who may come out in droves, starved for material as they are. And Jolie should easily grab an Oscar nom.
John Malkovich and Jeffrey Donovan are both strong, as her advocate and nemesis, respectively. And Michael Kelly, one of Variety's ten actors to watch, also pops.
I admire Eastwood's ethic of working fast and hard on multiple projects. I also applaud each film's organic shape and size, and the director's resistance to formulaic three-act structures. But there's something wrong with the trajectory of Changeling's last half hour. As long as the film hangs on Jolie, it works, but it takes a detour in its last third to focus on a serial killer mystery before returning to Collins' search for closure. Some Eastwood movies such as Flags of Our Fathers and Changeling seem to be missing that last final polish.
Peter Bart reflects on how Clint Eastwood has changed over the decades: for the better.
It sccored a not-so-great 51% with critics on Rotten Tomatoes (1979's The Changeling scored 77%). Here are reviews from Michael Wilmington and Todd McCarthy.
Read Steve Gaydos's report on his October 22 Q & A with Changeling screenwriter J. Michael "Joe" Straczynski on the jump.
Here's the trailer:
As Bob Dylan said in song, "Strange how people who suffer together have stronger connections than those who are most content." And there's no one less content than journalists. So I was feeling like the long-lost brother of screenwriter J. Michael "Joe" Straczynski as we shared the stage after a Sneak Previews screening of his new (and first) film, "Changeling." Seems we both spent time in the wordsmith trenches for the long-gone, somewhat lamented Los Angeles Reader alternative weekly. Joe also has alumnus pals strewn about from the late Herald-Examiner as well.
Joe moved on and became an icon of the geek set, creating TV sci-fi sensation "Babylon 5." I can picture the fans at Comic Con racing past "Changeling" star Angelina Jolie to hug Joe, who looks exactly as describes himself, like "a guy from the streets of New Jersey."
Now that Joe's one of the hottest screenwriters in the biz, with about a half-dozen pictures in various stages of production and/or development, the brotherly pride vibe emanating from me across the WGA stage was probably palpable, but not because, as he recounted, he was "in Cannes in May and the phone rang and somebody said, 'Is it okay if Mick Jagger joins us for dinner?'"
The pride is that after all his years as a top TV scribe, it was his return to his journo roots that propelled Joe to the top of the film world food chain.
Taking a year off from TV gigs, he spent his time in the bowels of L.A. City Hall, digging into the horrifying yet inspiring story of Christine Collins. Of the film's many glories, his meticulous research and attention to both character and period detail illuminate every frame of Clint Eastwood's magisterial epic of injustice. It's a dandy piece of screenwriting, but also an awesome piece of reportage. For those who keep track of such things, the research took a year. The screenwriting only took a couple of weeks.
"I am here to tell you," he announced, unsolicited, to all of the struggling screenwriters in the crowd, "that it doesn't matter who you are, who you know or how old you are, whether you've written for TV or at all. I am proof that if you find a great story and tell that story well, the dream can true."
There was no book on Christine Collins for Joe to refer to, but as Joe told the crowd, there will be one now. Written by Joe. Or J. Michael, if that's what Mick Jagger prefers to call him.
Welcome home, brother!
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Yes granted it does really go on towards the end and it has more than one ending (was that final prison scene really neccessary) but I really like Changeling. It's one of my favorite films so far this year. It's incredibly well crafted, extremely well acted and genuinely involving. It's really like old of those old Bette Davis/ Joan Crawford/Olivia de Havilland melodramas from the 30's and 40's which studios won't or don't know how to make anymore. Thank God Eastwood does
Posted by: Sergio | October 24, 2008 at 06:00 PM
I had the chance to catch a screening of Mr. Eastwood’s Changeling tonight. I had some reservations but when it was all over I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed it very much. The film is emotional but also engaging and beautifully crafted. The subject matter is most certainly grim and it's hard to fathom such events taking place - the level of corruption and bullying and the acceptance of this child despite plaguing doubts.
Angelina Jolie delivered a wonderful performance. Reserved when needed, but also quite strong. I did find much like Sergio that the movie seemed to have multiple endings and tended to drag throughout the latter stages.
I'm pleased that after a second viewing of this film months later your opinion remains unchanged.
Also very pleased to hear that this film played well with the Academy. Hopefully they will embrace it as well as Mr. Eastwood's directing and Angelina's performance. It would be a shame to see it not receive any type of acknowledgment during the awards season.
Posted by: Francine | October 24, 2008 at 09:12 PM
I saw this movie during the New York Film Festival and I enjyed it so much that when I saw some of the reviews for this movie I was wondering what movie the critics watched. This is movie as it is not done any more. You ride the emotional roller coaster with Christine and get so angry on her behalf that you want to join the crowd protesting to find justice for her.
I hope people will see the movie and judge for themselves, I wish more movies like this will be done. Angelina has never been better as an actress and as a mother herself, I can imagine how harrowing some of the scenes must have been for her. It is a shame that critics who have a job to do reviewing a movie, end up reading so much tabloids that they are incapable of doing their job, that is reviewing a movie for their readers or audiences as opposed to their biases.
Posted by: Karen | October 25, 2008 at 07:06 AM
Changeling actually scored 51% on Rotten Tomatoes.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1191742_changeling/
You linked to "The Changeling."
Posted by: The Playlist | October 25, 2008 at 01:40 PM
The problem with RT of course is that many of its reviewers are third rate bloggers with zero credibility. So as a reliable critical guide, never mind as an indication of Academy sentiment, its scores are worthless. I don't know what Changeling's rating on Metacritic is but at least that site uses only respectable critics.
Posted by: RD | October 26, 2008 at 06:44 PM