Enlightening Ignorance

As an actor, I never thought to highly of Clint Eastwood. Maybe his characterizations were before my time but I just always saw him playing the exact same roles in all his movies. Either an ornery old man with a grudge against the world, or in his younger days, as an ornery young man with a grudge against the world. However, I give him all the credit in the world, as a director. ”Million Dollar Baby” and ”Mystic River” in my opinion were his two best films, until I saw “Changeling” that is.

The situation that unfolds within the first 25 minutes of this film will have you shaking your head in disbelief, and from there the plot thickens into a tale of corruption, deceit, murder, and extreme sorrow for another 2 hours. This film will break your heart, not so much due to the fact that it is a very well written and performed piece, but probably more so when you consider that the events portrayed actually happened, to real people, in real life. Christine Collins was a real woman desperately searching for her missing son while a vile and corrupt  police department tried to destroy her credibility when she challenged their wrong doings. Gordon Northcutt was a real psychopathic sadist who brutally murdered young children, and most importantly, Walter Collins was a real child.

Angela Jolie’s portrayal of Christine Collins will probably get her Oscar consideration next year and if not for the paramount success of “The Dark Knight,” I would probably predict this film to win the Acadamy Award for Best Picture. It is truly that good. Films like this one, by director’s like Eastwood, usually don’t bring in the hundred million dollar box office totals, but as history tells, they are always the films nominated for Oscars.

Released: October 2008

Runtime: 2hrs 20mins

Rated: R