Movie Review: Changeling
Dec. 1st, 2008 08:37 amMovie review: Changeling
Changeling is the story of a 1920's single mother, Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie), whose son is abducted one day while she is at work. Some time later, the police announce her son has been found. But the child returned to her is not her son. The cops refuse to believe her, insisting that the boy's five-month ordeal has changed him so much that she doesn't recognise her own child. As she battles against a corrupt bureaucracy, another police officer is uncovering the true tale of what happened to her son.
That's the simple summary. I had two main reasons for wanting to see this movie: Angelina (of course) and the screenwriter, J. Michael Straczynski. Fans will recognise the name: he's the writer behind Babylon 5. Had I not known that going in, I would have guessed about five minutes into the movie, because Christine recycles a quote I will forever associate with B5 ("Never start a fight, but always finish it.") That aside, it seems JMS has actually learned to write convincing dialogue (or maybe had an excellent editor). Unlike some of the cringeworthy moments in B5, the most dramatic scenes of Changeling flow very well, and I didn't catch myself wincing once. Though I must credit the cast for that, too: the actors were universally impressive. I'm not certain I'd be saying this if I didn't know who wrote it, but the film does give the impression of being uncomfortable at movie length. It's a complex story with many layers and would have benefitted from a series-long telling rather than its allotted two hours.
The other thing that must be said in advance is that this film is based on a true story. How much of that story has been changed for the sake of Hollywood, I can't say. But it's important to recognise that, because if the same movie were set in the present day, no one could suspend disbelief so far. Only in an age before our current mass-communication, in a day before DNA and blood tests, could something like this have happened.
( Cut for length and film spoilers )
Changeling is the story of a 1920's single mother, Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie), whose son is abducted one day while she is at work. Some time later, the police announce her son has been found. But the child returned to her is not her son. The cops refuse to believe her, insisting that the boy's five-month ordeal has changed him so much that she doesn't recognise her own child. As she battles against a corrupt bureaucracy, another police officer is uncovering the true tale of what happened to her son.
That's the simple summary. I had two main reasons for wanting to see this movie: Angelina (of course) and the screenwriter, J. Michael Straczynski. Fans will recognise the name: he's the writer behind Babylon 5. Had I not known that going in, I would have guessed about five minutes into the movie, because Christine recycles a quote I will forever associate with B5 ("Never start a fight, but always finish it.") That aside, it seems JMS has actually learned to write convincing dialogue (or maybe had an excellent editor). Unlike some of the cringeworthy moments in B5, the most dramatic scenes of Changeling flow very well, and I didn't catch myself wincing once. Though I must credit the cast for that, too: the actors were universally impressive. I'm not certain I'd be saying this if I didn't know who wrote it, but the film does give the impression of being uncomfortable at movie length. It's a complex story with many layers and would have benefitted from a series-long telling rather than its allotted two hours.
The other thing that must be said in advance is that this film is based on a true story. How much of that story has been changed for the sake of Hollywood, I can't say. But it's important to recognise that, because if the same movie were set in the present day, no one could suspend disbelief so far. Only in an age before our current mass-communication, in a day before DNA and blood tests, could something like this have happened.