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In Western folklore, a changeling is the child of a fairy, elf or dwarf who is left in place of a human child, stolen by the fairy folk away from his human parents. In some stories, the changeling was a piece of wood instead of the fairy child. Far from folklore but inspired by a true story, Clint Eastwood’s The Changeling tells the tale of Walter Collins, stolen one afternoon from his mother Christine’s home. Unlike the changeling of myth though, no fairy child is left in his place. Instead his mother is plunged into nightmarish despair as she begs for help to find him. Months later he is miraculously restored by the then corrupt and inefficient LAPD but to her growing horror, she realizes that the boy returned to her is not her son. What follows is even more horrific as Christine is by turns denounced as, a hysterical woman, a liar and finally as a lunatic to be confined at an insane asylum. Alone and desperate, she is aided in her plight only by a charismatic pastor who has made it his mission to fight the LAPD.
This is by no means an easy movie to watch. Director Clint Eastwood has no qualms taking on difficult themes and this latest one proves to be hewn from the same dark material as his previous ones (Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby are just two that come to mind). In the Changeling, the theme of a lost child is overshadowed by the gross corruption of the police and the treatment meted out to women during those troubled times. It was apparently not unheard of to incarcerate women in asylums for their own good. And as if that were not enough, we see as the movie evolves that a serial killer is actually involved. Whew. It’s a lot to take on and this is further proof that life is often stranger than fiction. Whatever we may feel about depressing movies, we can certainly admire Eastwood’s efforts to tell such this dark yet affecting story.
Angelina Jolie takes on the role of Christine Collins and she makes a supreme effort to tamp down her magnetic star power. It is not easy but it is a good effort. As Jolie plays her, her Christine Collins is by turns a mother worn down by grief, defensive and determined. No sign of the buff Amazon roles that we are probably more accustomed to seeing Jolie play. This role should go a long way towards convincing Hollywood (if there be any need at all) that she is able to do more serious roles that don’t rely on her stupendous good looks.