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 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. (12/05/2014)

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

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)

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)