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Director Clint Eastwood sets his sights on Oscar again, but this ambitious, two-and-a-half hour drama based on a strange but true story of a child who goes missing and a mother's relentless search may reach farther than its grasp.
Not that there are not good points about "Changeling." The basic story is certainly intriguing, visual elements of the 1920s Los Angeles setting are appealing and performances are strong, but the film simply tries to be too many things at once.
Angelina Jolie plays a devoted single mother whose adored nine-year old son goes missing in 1928, while she is working an extra shift at the phone company.
When the police call to tell her they have found her son in a distant state, she is overjoyed.
They orchestrate a mother and son reunion at the train station, complete with the press and top police officials.
But the boy who steps off the train seems unfamiliar to her. Thus begins a sad, strange tale.
"Changeling" is a bit of a mystery tale, so revealing too much plot will only spoil the movie-going experience.
However, some characters can be described. John Malkovich plays Reverend Gustav Briegleb, a fiery preacher whose popular weekly radio broadcasts often focus on police corruption, and he is quick to latch on to this story.
There is plenty of dirt to dish on this LAPD, under a police chief (Colm Feore) swept into power over citizen outrage at Prohibition-era gang violence, whose own methods lean toward the criminal.
Angelina Jolie turns in a powerful, fearless performance as a woman faced with insurmountable tasks. Malkovich is also very effective as the crusading minister.
Strong acting turns by Michael Kelly, as a more sympathetic cop on the juvenile beat and Jason Butler Harner as the mentally unbalanced Gordon Northcutt bring much to the film.
Jeffrey Donovan brings menace to his smooth, oily Captain J.J. Jones, although an Irish accent that comes and goes is distracting.
Visually, the film is stunning. It opens by fading in from black and white footage that fits to the period, transitioning to de-saturated color and finally slipping into full color.
The director repeats this transition at the end of the film, a lovely bookend. The 1928 Los Angeles locations and sets look appealingly authentic, as do nice touches like roller-skating operators and cable cars.
Eastwood's film has a sort of whiff of feminism beneath this tale of one citizen against a corrupt police force.
Clint Eastwood reveals a bit of knowledge of the era in elements crucial for the drama.
The mother works at the phone company, one of the few places that offered women career advancement at the time.
The story is set in post-first wave feminism 1920s, when the radical marches that brought women the vote in 1919 subsided to a kind of limited freedom.
Women could walk unescorted, wear shorter skirts and hold some jobs deemed suitable; but while news reports praised boldness in exceptional individuals like Amelia Earhart, the average woman was still considered overly emotional and intellectually inferior to men.
If this women's rights story were the predominant theme of "Changeling," it would be a more focused film.
But Eastwood is not content with that, and brings up a host of social and historical issues, from forced commitments in mental health treatment and mental hospitals, to child abductions, serial killers, the precursors to modern televangelists, a scandal-hungry press and even a bit on the death penalty.
All of these elements are worthy, but they are a lot to balance in one film. Topping off this full plate is a sprinkling of Eastwood's own libertarian to conservative views.
While last year's paired films about the battle of Iwo Jima showed the Japanese soldier's hopeless tale ("Iwo Jima") to be the better film, "Changeling" has some of the preaching that marred the other half, "Flags of Our Fathers."
This same problem especially permeated "Million Dollar Baby," which re-cast Missouri as the amoral trailer-trash cesspool of the country. Morre than two hours also seems a bit much for this film.
Overall, "Changeling" is a worthy but not flawless film, potentially a "love it or hate it" production that will have both fans and critics.
Despite its good points, this Clint Eastwood effort seems an unlikely contender for this year's Oscar gold.
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