Changeling

Clint Eastwood with fragile piano music is the Danielle Steel of serious topics. But for topics as serious as those addressed in Changeling, and especially for tying them together in some meaningful way, a big heart alone is not enough. (15/01/2009)

A formally smooth drama with a strong premise, hurt a little but an overly sweeping and inconsistent script. There are chilling and breathtaking scenes followed by more protracted ones, which somewhat bothered, because they don’t carry on with what the previous scene set up. I’d compare it to a car waiting at a traffic light: as soon as it starts, it has to stop again, and again. Angelina delivers a solid, though not Oscar-worthy performance (see Kate Winslet in Revolutionary Road). The very fitting music is also worth mentioning, in the last shot it builds a very strong background with similar results as in Gran Torino (you’ll know if you’ve seen it). Changeling is a very good film, but I can’t give it the highest rating because some of this year’s Oscar hopefuls have had a bigger effect on me. (09/01/2009)

I appreciate how Clint's slow but focused direction manages to fully serve the story, telling it from the position of an unbiased observer while letting the viewer deal with the emotional whirlwind on their own. What I appreciate less is the fact that the last quarter is a bit of an appendix - a place that just is, but somehow the viewer can do without it, perhaps because the cards have been dealt long ago and nothing can surprise him anymore. Then there is Angelina, and although she’s great, she’s still and always just "Angelina™," which can't be hidden even by the elegant hat and the period hair and make-up. However, I do admit that the first two-thirds or so of the film hit me hard. (03/03/2009)

An unmissable experience. A packed movie theater (what a miracle, everybody was silent, no rustling, unbelievable...), two girls accompanying me and a movie where Clint masterfully changes genres perhaps more stylishly, more accurately and faster than he could shoot his Colt as a young man. And it doesn’t stoop to emotional blackmail, despite the subject matter crying out for it. This is the sort of movie where you need to take an oxygen canister to. Just in case it knocks the breath out of you. And that could easily happen. But what I would change is my very vague awareness of the story. On the other hand, if I had gone to see it in complete ignorance, I don’t think even the oxygen would have saved me. (08/01/2009)

Eastwood and the most firmly held formula. A story that could be retold in three sentences stretches over two hours, but with a fascinating talent it forces the viewer to immensely enjoy that time. Every emotion feels genuine, Angelina overcomes her acting limits and the period atmosphere attacks all of my senses. If the whole film wasn't infused with a very credible, unpleasant, and unrelenting hint of inhumanity, it could have been even better. (14/09/2009)

Disappointed I certainly am not, as I got exactly what I expected. Eastwood masters his craft reliably and chose such an attractive topic that it represents a sure bet within the US and world cinema, so to speak. The loss of a child, corruption and the incompetence of authorities, as well as police harassment against a fragile defenseless woman, the rampage of a psychopathic violent person, civil activism, and the expected victory of justice and democracy over corrupt individuals. The system is saved again, and we move on. In the first half, when the protagonist is crushed by the pressure of events and one marvels at the absurdity of the conditions in America at the end of the 1920s, it works very well, and my rating reflects that. However, after the drama moves to the courtroom, it becomes a standard, typically American, predictable spectacle according to the formula tried and tested many times. Overall, for me, it gets a 3.5-star rating, with my tradition of leaning toward a lower rating for such an acclaimed film. The casting of Angelina Jolie in the lead role also plays a certain role in that. I don't particularly care for her. Overall impression: 65%. (01/03/2013)

Clint truly has the golden touch. A brilliant drama that, even with its length, is over before you know it. Angelina acts like her life depended on it, and I think that together with Fox from Wanted, it's the best role of her entire career. Paradoxically, some of the strongest scenes are the ones without her. The events on the farm, both the digging scene and the memories of the other boy, were incredibly chilling. (09/04/2009)

A solid Straczynski drama with decent production design, and interesting direction, but also a strange performance by Angelina and a few hobbling a-historical issues. In summary, however, I can recommend Changeling, and perhaps thanks to it younger people will understand who Tom Mix and Claudette Colbert were. (13/05/2014)

The last part of the film is unnecessarily pompous, here it would apply the famous saying that less is sometimes more.Otherwise, it is a gripping, minimalist and heart-wrenching story, where the otherwise mannequin-like and wannabe cool tough chick Angelina Jolie delivers the best and most heartfelt performance of her career. Clint Eastwood amazes once again with his perfectly thought-out old-school direction, and the production design and cinematography are superb elements in this perfectly harmonious masterpiece. Without a doubt, one of the best films of the year, and perhaps the best in terms of direction. (31/05/2009)

There are simply too many thoughts and intentions for one film. A missing child, police corruption and inconsistency, a Ken Kesey-like mental hospital drama, a trial to justify a scapegoat and punish a murdering monster... Only Eastwood can indulge in that, and he doesn't fall short at any point, but the excessive runtime and uneven pacing are proof that more intimate and purely genre stories in the style of A Perfect World or Gran Torino suit him better as a storyteller. The script in itself isn't bad, but it lacks credibility in some of its individual parts, whether in the half-hearted depiction of an evil and irrational police or medical staff, or in the circumstances surrounding the child murders, which lack virtually any motive or explanation. Nevertheless, this is an excellent film, emotionally colourful, visually authentic and psychologically mature, with a sweetly depressing piano soundtrack and a wonderful Angelina Jolie, who traded the face of a tough action heroine for the tortured expression of a betrayed yet hard-fighting mother – a shame for the guys, a stroke of luck for the film... 80% (02/07/2012)

Clint Eastwood is a filmmaker who has been making films in recent years that are regularly honored with various awards. The film "Changeling" definitely had a good start. The story, created by life itself but adapted into a screenplay by J. Michael Straczynski, a film and comic book writer who gained fame for his work on Spider-Man and also for creating the series "Babylon 5," literally begs to be filmed by an excellent director. Imagine the situation when you come home after a long day at work. You are a single mother and your son, who was supposed to be home, is not there. He is not outside, he is not at the neighbors'. Night is approaching. You start to panic. He is your only child. You have no one else. And what happens when you call the police? They tell you it hasn't been 24 hours yet, that they don't have enough people to deal with this. Fine, you wait 24 hours and the case starts to unfold. Unsuccessfully. After five months, it seems that the child has been found. Excitedly, you run to the station when he arrives. What a surprise it is when you find out that he is not your son. What an even bigger surprise comes when the police tries to impose the opinion that he is indeed your son, that you just don't recognize him. Okay, you think maybe he has grown a bit. Except that he has shrunk. And to top it all, he is circumcised. He doesn't remember his teacher or classmates. But the police still claims that he is your son. If you don't recognize him, you must be mistaken. So they lock you up in a psychiatric ward. It is difficult to describe what Christine Collins had to go through, but it really happened. The Los Angeles police did not have enough resources and did not have a good reputation in the 1920s, so they tried to improve it. They only made things worse and almost caused chaos. A strong story, which is presented in some moments as too schematic and without feeling, which harms it. Angelina Jolie is good, but that was somewhat expected. The direction is good, but it seems like Clint has lost the ability to suppress pathos and bring out pure emotions. Because of that, the film did not become as captivating as "Million Dollar Baby" or "Gran Torino." More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/12/umirajici-zvire-4-vanoce-slunce-seno-2.html (03/03/2013)

An at times a rather startling and shocking look at the "work" of law enforcement officers, their virtually unlimited powers which they do not hesitate to use to gag those who might threaten their careers, or the "reputation" of the LAPD as a whole. Clint Eastwood directs substantively, again without pretense or deceptive camera angles, telling the story of an unhappy mother who is determined to find her real son no matter what, undaunted by violence or the diagnosis of a mentally disturbed and irresponsible woman. Angelina manages to inhabit her period role very convincingly (her desperately repeated question "Did you kill my son?" gave me a bit of a chill), although the make-up and hair styling naturally contributed greatly to the credibility of her character. It takes a hell of a lot of creative potential to make two films this perfect in one year, and Clint Eastwood has my deep admiration, much like Soderbergh did in 2000. (06/02/2010)