Changeling (2008 film)

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 11/2/08 w/ Additional Edits & Revisions.

Directed by Clint Eastwood and written by J. Michael Straczynski, Changeling is the story of a woman in late 1920s Los Angeles whose son is kidnapped only for the police to claim they found her son as the boy turns out not to be her son. Based on a true story, the film is about a woman whose search for her kidnapped child leads her to team with a pastor to fight against the corruption of the LAPD amid accusations that she's unfit while one detective makes a grim discovery about what might've happened to the boy. Starring Angelina Jolie, Jeffrey Donovan, Jason Butler Harner, Michael Kelly, Geoff Pierson, Colm Feore, Amy Ryan, and John Malkovich. Changeling is a harrowing yet powerful drama from Clint Eastwood and company.

The film takes place in 1928 Los Angeles where Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie) is a single mother who raises her 9-year-old son Walter (Gattlin Griffith) while working as a phone-line supervisor. When he doesn't return home one day as she believes he's kidnapped, she reports the incident to the LAPD where a five-month search for the boy had the LAPD claim they found the boy yet it's not Walter as Christine reluctantly takes the boy as she starts to question the LAPD. Turning to the Reverend Gustav Briegleb (John Malkovich) who had been critical of the LAPD, Christine finds herself in trouble as she is taken to a psychiatric ward while a detective named Lester Ybarra makes a chilling discovery during an assignment to deport a 15-year old boy back to Canada. Through Ybarra's discovery and Reverend Briegleb's help, Christine would go on a mission to fight the LAPD and to try and find her son who was supposedly kidnapped by a psychotic named Gordon Northcott (Jason Butler Harner).

The film is about, in its simplest terms, a mother just wanting to know where her son is. Yet, when the people she is relying on doesn't help her out at all and challenges their authority. She turns to people in her community where she fights against corruption in seeking out the truth, even if the conclusion is something horrible. J. Michael Straczynski's script is definitely brilliant in its study of character and corruption while revealing some ugly truth into some gruesome murders that might not just affect Christine Collins. Though it's not perfect due to the aftermath of the trials with a lot of set-ups for the ending where it's overdrawn. The script does work in unveiling how a woman just wants to fight for what's right with help from a religious leader who just wants the same thing.

A film like this could've been told conventionally in the hands of a director who wants to presents something that could be sappy or very drawn out. In the hands of someone like Clint Eastwood, it becomes something far more interesting with characters to root for and themes that audiences can understand. Eastwood's direction is truly superb in its nuance for the period as it's shot mostly in California while presenting an idea of what it was like then. Eastwood and ends the film with the look shot in black-and-white to give it an old time feel. Yet, his angles and compositions in presenting a scene are told in a modern style while paying homage to older film styles. For some of the film's dramatic, emotional scenes, Eastwood prefers to let the drama unfold without any forced manipulation as he's often been accused of with some of his films.

Eastwood's reputation in directing his actors or lack-thereof really bring the performances of his actors to have a sense of freedom and authenticity. The approach works very well in his staging of the drama while allowing the camera to capture every moment. Even when showing that even characters like Christine and Reverend Briegleb to be flawed as well yet have the audience still root for them. Then, there's parts of the ending that suggests Eastwood's political leanings might come off as a little conservative for some audiences. Yet, in what wanted to say about that specific scene in relation to what goes in the film. Whether you agree with him or not, he does have some points. Then there's the film's ending which can be described as ambiguous but the result does leave something that's open but also with a glimmer of hope. Overall, Eastwood does create a drama that is captivating as the man is still in the top of his game as a director.

Cinematographer Tom Stern does excellent work in the usual tinted, greenish look of the film with some amazing shading in some of the film's interior settings as it brings a sense of atmosphere for its dramatic moments. Stern's camera work in the exteriors in some of the LA shots in the rain are done with a wonderful shade of blue-green while the scenes in the desert is gorgeous with its light-colored look. Editors Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach do excellent work in the smoothness of the film's cutting along with opening and closing dissolve shots from black-and-white to color and vice versa. The editing for some of the film's more heightened dramatic sequences has some swift, transitional cuts and jump cuts as the editing is excellent overall.

Production designer James J. Murakami with set decorator Gary Fettis and Patrick M. Sullivan Jr., do great work in the film's interior designs of Christine's home, the look of the church and police departments. The film also had an exterior design on a restaurant shack where the false boy was found where the shack is named Bummy's after Eastwood's late production designer Henry Bumstead. Visual effects supervisor Michael Owens do some great work in some of the redesign on some of the film's exterior LA settings to change it from today's Los Angeles to late 1920s-1930s LA. Costume designer Deborah Hopper does amazing work in the film's costumes, notably the look of the women's clothes with the hats, dresses, shoes, and such. There's a real authenticity to the film's look and style as Hopper's work is truly superb.

Sound editor Alan Robert Murray does great work in the sound in the way the trolleys sound along with objects and other things. Murray's work is excellent for the atmosphere it brings in each scene. For the film's score written by Clint Eastwood with arrangements by his son Kyle and Michael Eastman, the music is mostly orchestral with low, sweeping arrangement to underscore the drama. Yet, with mostly a piano and an acoustic guitar accompaniment. The music mostly leans towards jazz music with a trumpet to pay homage to the 1920s.

The cast assembled by Ellen Chenoweth, is superb with memorable appearances from Jeffrey Hutchinson and Lily Knight as parents of a missing child, Riki Lindhome as an examination nurse, Michelle Martin as phone operator, Peter Geraty as a doctor examining the fake boy, Pamela Dunlap as Walter's teacher, John Harrington Bland as a dentist, Reed Birney as the LA mayor, and a cameo from Clint's daughter Morgan as a neighborhood girl. Eddie Alderson is very good as Sanford, the boy who confesses to what he and his cousin did that would break a huge case that might involve Walter's disappearance. Frank Wood is also good as Ben Harris, Christine's supervisor at the phone service office who sympathizes with her situation as he also helps her. Devon Conti is very good as the fake boy who claims to be Walter with a smarmy attitude until he makes his confession. Gattlin Griffith is excellent in his small role as the real Walter Collins, a good kid who ends up getting captured while early in the film. He has a great scene with Jolie about fighting that would be the rallying call for the entire film.

Denis O'Hare is very good as the corruptive doctor at the mental ward who tries to make Christine sign something that she knows would discredit her. Jason Butler Harner is great as Gordon Northcott, the man who is revealed to be the murderer of many children as he's a guy with a smarmy smile that might reveal the fate of Walter Collins. Colm Feore is good as the chief of police who is trying to use the law for his own gain only to be faced with embarrassment. Amy Ryan is great as Carol Dexter, a prostitute who befriends Christine at a mental ward as she gives her lessons on how to survive the ward while proving that she can be pretty tough. Michael Kelly is great as Detective Ybarra, the good cop who uncovers a gruesome case and becomes one of the few allies in the LAPD for Christine.

Jeffrey Donovan is excellent as Captain Jones, the man who would set the course for Christine's fight against corruption as a police officer who is more about showing off his authority than doing the right thing. John Malkovich is superb as Reverend Gustav Briegleb, a local pastor with a radio broadcast who is set out to do the right thing for his community. While like many preachers, he might be a bit preachy, but Malkovich does bring a sense of comfort and an unrelenting presence to his performance as it stands out as one of his best. It's an amazing performance from Malkovich who should be singled out as a community leader wanting to do what's right for his community and its people.

Finally, there's Angelina Jolie in an amazing performance as Christine Collins. Following her knockout, dramatic performance in Michael Winterbottom's 2007 film A Mighty Heart, Jolie returns to what she does best as she plays a character that she can relate to being that she is a mother. Jolie goes for restraint than melodrama in most of what she does in her performance as she proves that she can be tough while when it comes to her son. Her restraint in the emotions is powerful as it's definitely a performance that reminds audiences in why she's a really good actress instead of the high-profile star that she's often known for.

Changeling is a powerful and intense film from Clint Eastwood. Thanks to the great performances from Angelina Jolie and John Malkovich, it's a film that really shows the power of what people can do when they're faced with injustice. Fans of Eastwood's film will no doubt enjoy in what the director can despite a few flaws in the film. In the end, Changeling is a film that is worth seeing for its performances, 1920s period look, and the understated, atmospheric direction of Clint Eastwood.

Clint Eastwood Films: (Play Misty for Me) - High Plains Drifter - (Breezy) - (The Eiger Sanction) - (The Outlaw Josey Wales) - (The Gauntlet) - (Bronco Billy) - (Firefox) - (Honkytonk Man) - Sudden Impact - Pale Rider - (Heartbreak Ridge) - (Bird) - (White Hunter Black Heart) - (The Rookie) - Unforgiven - (A Perfect World) - (The Bridges of Madison County) - (Absolute Power) - (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) - (True Crime) - (Space Cowboys) - (Blood Work) - (Mystic River) - Million Dollar Baby - Flags of Our Fathers - Letters from Iwo Jima - (Gran Torino) - (Invictus) - (Hereafter) - (J. Edgar) - (Jersey Boys) - American Sniper - (Sully) - (The 15:17 to Paris) - (The Mule)

© thevoid99 2014

Labor Day

Based on the novel by Joyce Maynard, Labor Day is the story about an escaped fugitive who takes over the home of an agoraphobic woman and her son where they form an unlikely family in the wake of a woman’s divorce from her husband. Written for the screen and directed by Jason Reitman, the film is about a Labor Day weekend in 1987 as it’s reflected from the perspective of a man who looks back at this crucial period in his young life as he is played and narrated by Tobey Maguire. Also starring Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, Clark Gregg, Brooke Smith, James Van Der Beek, Alexie Gilmore, Maika Monroe, and Gattlin Griffin. Labor Day is a compelling yet mesmerizing film from Jason Reitman.

The film is a simple story about a woman and her 13-year old son who harbor an escaped fugitive in their home in the course of Labor Day weekend in 1987. Much of it is told from a young boy named Henry Wheeler (Gattlin Griffin) as he lives with his agoraphobic, divorced mother Adele (Kate Winslet) where the adult Henry reflects on that time. Especially as the fugitive in Frank (Josh Brolin) was a man who had been serving an 18-year prison sentence for murder where he escaped from a hospital and held both Henry and Adele hostage. Though Frank would admit to his guilt, he reveals that there’s more to the story as he brings some life back to Adele who is still ravaged by her divorce as well as other things. Even as he helps Henry out with some things as he is coming of age.

Jason Reitman’s screenplay does create a very tender and thoughtful love story involving Frank and Adele but also play into their respective past as they’re both two people that have been damaged by tragedy. The former of which is a man who had a good life when he was a young man (Tom Lipinski) with a woman named Mandy (Maika Monroe) but dark truths led to Frank’s incarceration. Some aspects in the film’s screenplay which reveals Frank and Adele’s past life in flashbacks definitely creates a narrative that is a bit messy since the film is told from Henry’s perspective. Still, Reitman does manage to find ways to make the drama to be very interesting as well as some few moments of suspense where Frank and Adele decide to run away with Henry in tow.

Reitman’s direction has him going into a much more restrained approach as the film does mark a departure of his previous work. Yet, there are images that he creates that are truly mesmerizing as it’s shot on location in parts of Massachusetts and a town in New Hampshire to give the film a small town feel. Even as Reitman keeps much of the compositions and framing to be very simple but also very engaging for the way he places the actors in the frame and in playing out the drama. Reitman’s attention to detail in some of the smaller moments such as a scene where Frank, Adele, and Henry bake a peach pie as well the trio planning to run away though Henry is hesitant about what is happening. While some of the script’s messiness as well as an overly-drawn out ending does falter the film. Reitman does manage to create a pretty engaging and thoughtful drama about a woman and her son harboring a kind fugitive.

Cinematographer Eric Steelberg does amazing work with the film‘s cinematography with its approach to natural lighting for much of the film‘s exterior daytime scenes along with some low-key lighting for some of the interior/exterior scenes at night. Editor Dana E. Glauberman does excellent work with the editing with its use of jump-cuts and montages to play out some of the drama as well as the pie-making scene and flashbacks. Production designer Steve Saklad, along with set decorator Tracey A. Doyle and art director Mark Robert Taylor, does fantastic work with the set pieces from the home that Adele and Henry live with some of the decorations that play into the world of the 1980s.

Costume designer Danny Glicker does nice work with the clothes as it plays to something more casual as well as some of the flashbacks of Adele and Frank in the clothes they were in the 60s and 70s. Visual effects supervisor Scott M. Davids does good work in the few visual effects that plays into Henry‘s coming-of-age as he becomes fascinated by the idea of sex. Sound editors Perry Robertson and Scott Sanders does superb work with the film‘s sound as it plays to some of the atmosphere of the locations as well as the way conversations are heard from Henry‘s perspective. The film’s music by Rolfe Kent is brilliant for its mixture of ambient music with folk and plaintive piano pieces to play into some of the melancholia while music supervisor Randall Poster brings in a soundtrack that features some classical, samba, and a folk song from Arlo Guthrie.

The casting by Jessica Kelly and Suzanne Smith is incredible for the ensemble that is used as it features appearances from James Van Der Beek as a police officer, Brighid Fleming as a young girl that Henry meets who had just moved into town and give Henry some dark thoughts about Frank, Alexie Gilmore as Henry’s stepmother Marjorie, Tom Lipinski as a young Frank, Micah Fowler as a mentally-disabled neighbor kid Henry and Adele looked over, Brooke Smith as that boy’s mother, and Reitman regular J.K. Simmons as a neighbor who would give Henry peaches. Clark Gregg is terrific as Henry’s father who left Adele for his secretary and started a family of his own as he becomes concerned about Henry and Adele’s situation unaware of Frank’s presence. Maika Monroe is wonderful as Frank’s wife Mandy who would be the cause of Frank’s grief and incarceration.

Tobey Maguire is excellent in his small role as the adult Henry as he only appears in its ending yet maintains a good presence as the film’s narrator. Gattlin Griffith is superb as the young Henry as a 13-year old boy trying to understand his mother’s melancholia as well as trying to observe Frank as it’s a very understated and engaging performance that manages to be in the same line with his co-stars. Josh Brolin is fantastic as Frank as an escaped fugitive who kidnaps Adele and Henry yet manages to mean well as he is one that is kind and generous while wanting to find some redemption for his actions as it’s a very sensitive and touching performance from Brolin. Finally, there’s Kate Winslet in a radiant performance as Adele Wheeler as a troubled, agoraphobic woman who only goes out once a month as she finds some comfort in the presence of Frank while trying to be a mother to Henry as it’s a very chilling yet evocative performance from Winslet.

While it is a flawed film, Labor Day is still a stellar film from Jason Reitman thanks in part to the performances of Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, and Gattlin Griffith. Though it is a very different film in comparison to the previous films that Reitman has done, it does showcase a filmmaker trying to do something out of his comfort zone though not everything is successful. In the end, Labor Day is a terrific film from Jason Reitman.

Jason Reitman Films: Thank You for Smoking - Juno - Up in the Air - Young Adult - (Men, Women, & Children) - Tully - The Front Runner - Ghostbusters: Afterlife - The Auteurs #30: Jason Reitman

© thevoid99 2014