Eye Candy #230 - "Changeling"

Changeling:  Based on two true stories from the 1920-30’s in California, regarding the disappearance of a child (the real Walter Collins) and serial child murderer active in the same area (the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders), this was billed as a thriller, but at almost 2 ½ hours, it’s more of a period drama than anything (and probably what it should have been marketed as).  The title comes from the traditional folktale about fairies stealing children and replacing it with one of their own.  Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie) is a single mother living in Los Angeles, and her son Walter disappears.  The LAPD “finds” her son and forces her to take him home with her, even though Collins knows this boy isn’t her child immediately.  When she fights back against the LAPD, she finds herself committed to a psychiatric hospital by a corrupt captain who is more interested in CYA than finding the real Walter.  I have high expectations for most Clint Eastwood-helmed movies and I’m usually not let down.  I even really like the work by J. Michael Straczynski, but the script here is just not strong.  Some of the dialogue is terrible (if I never hear Jolie yell “Did you kill my son!” over and over and over again, it will be too soon), and some of the performances hammy (particularly Jeffrey Donovan, who sounds like he’s trying to affect some kind of accent).  John Malkovich, as crusading preacher Rev. Gustav Briegleb, one of Christine’s first and strongest supporters, comes out best.  And hey, we get more of actor Michael Kelly, and he’s always fantastic.  The film is ponderous, slow, and lacks urgency.  I had high hopes for this, but it wasn’t exceptional.  Want great Eastwood?  Go see “Million Dollar Baby”  or “Letters from Iwo Jima” instead.  Woodchuck sez, “Middle of the road.”