DHP Review: The Changeling
Posted by Dirty Harry on Friday, October 31st, 2008
The Changeling lacks story focus and at two hours-twenty minutes is about 40 minutes too long. What opens as an intimate, period piece about a mother searching for her lost son slips a gear and goes all Bette Davis with an unexpected change of scope to a much broader palette involving a gruesome child murderer and police corruption.
This is a film that doesn’t quite know what it wants to be and the attempts to mash a number of disparate elements into one creates an erratic narrative that never wants to end. You can sense Eastwood’s desire to cast a spell through score, picture and story, but every time you might settle in a scene goes on too long or the movie suddenly tells you it now wants to be about something else.
Angelina Jolie’s performance is head and shoulders above her much praised but overwrought work in A Mighty Heart. Here she’s subtle and natural and even manages to make her way through a number of melodramatic scenes with dignity intact. Unfortunately, Jolie’s so shockingly thin and pale it distracts in many of the early scenes. It troubles me to say that for fear I’ll be accused of taking a cheap shot at her, but it’s just a fact that she doesn’t look well. And it has nothing to do with what her character’s going through. Even before her son disappears her gaunt appearance is jarring.
Amy Adams is wasted, John Malkovich is terrific (naturally) as a sympathetic Minister fighting LAPD corruption, but it’s Jason Butler Harner as child killer Gordon Northcott who walks away with the movie. Harner channels Robert Walker all over the place but you never catch him acting even once in a very flamboyant performance. Keep your eye out for Harner. There’s some real talent there.
The cinematography and production design are both top-notch. You do believe it’s Los Angeles circa 1925, but the score mostly fails. Frequently, it intrudes and sometimes you’ll swear you’re watching Unforgiven.
The film’s saving grace is that every time it’s about to lose you completely along comes an absolutely brilliant scene (there are four of them ) to pull you back in. But the whole can’t rise to the parts and a for a film based on a true story it still has no idea how to end.
Changeling is a swing and a miss in the serious-Eastwood genre.
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Capt. Nemoon 31 Oct 2008 at 5:20 pm 1What about Jeffery Donovan?
Johnny Ed's Babyon 31 Oct 2008 at 5:48 pm 2It’s too bad - I like movies set in the Los Angeles of the first part of the 20th century. LA Confidential or Chinatown or Devil With A Blue Dress or any of the Philip Marlowe movies (not the Mitchum Big Sleep or Gould’s Marlowe) were enhanced because they were period pieces set in an interesting city in an interesting time.
I still want to go despite the warning.
PerfectTommyon 31 Oct 2008 at 6:13 pm 3“a sympathetic Minister”, is that a typo?
That alone makes me want to see this film.
Mulholland Kevinon 31 Oct 2008 at 6:30 pm 4I don’t doubt a word of your review, but somehow, even though it’s negative, it makes me want to see the film.
RWAon 31 Oct 2008 at 6:38 pm 5Colm Feore is another superb actor in the cast. And hey, it’s written by J Michael Straczynski! Can Joss Whedon and Chris Carter be writing screenplays for Eastwood soon?
JC Loopholeon 31 Oct 2008 at 7:42 pm 6I also am curious about Jeffery Donovan- how is his performance? I like him and Burn Notice.
Wayfareron 31 Oct 2008 at 8:31 pm 7I’m going to third that about Donovan. Love him (and Bruce Campbell) in Burn Notice.
Hey, DH, do you have a top-5 Eastwood list?
Tom Aricoon 31 Oct 2008 at 8:33 pm 8I am still debating wether or not to see this in theaters or wait for DVD. Maybe I’ll go to the theater to support the Genras I like, Period pieces and Historicly based stories.
Kiton 31 Oct 2008 at 8:39 pm 9I’m still gonna go see it.
maatkareon 31 Oct 2008 at 9:51 pm 10I would call it a solid double by Clint, but “Unforgiven” was a home run, so judge as you will. For the first half hour, I was amazed that someone had managed to make Jolie look unattractive! She does look bad. I noticed it in “Wanted” as well. I hope she’s had some steaks and milkshakes since. Her performance is excellent, though, as are the child actors. And the art direction is superb. It’s funny, DH, you are the second writer I’ve read to say they found the score intrusive…it didn’t bother me at all. Better than the obligatory tinny recording of “We’re In The Money.” The story is just so shockingly sad, and the sadness and grimness escalate as the film goes on. There may be no good ending, because the real life story had no good ending either. I recommend it…but steel yourself. It’s like being fed slowly through an exquisitely crafted emotional meat grinder. I’d heard it ran a bit long, but I gotta say..I didn’t twitch or look at my watch. The pacing worked well for me.
One thing that I felt was that it’s an unabashadly old-fashioned movie–not subtle at all. You know when they appear who’s good and who’s bad, even Amy Ryan (not Adams, I think, Harry), who manages to make the plucky cell mate/saintly hooker role work. Malkovich is awesome. Everyone’s good. If there’s any problem, it’s because the subject matter is so grim, you can’t really let yourself enjoy the film too much. Sad to realize that police corruption is one of L.A.’s oldest traditions.
I was fortunate enough to see a screening where Eastwood spoke afterward, and he mentioned how he keeps his set quiet, and with the child actors he often never had the a.d. call out “rolling,” and he seldom calls “action,” instead signaling quietly to the cameraman to roll, then working the kids through the performances. Then he grinned and explained he learned that trick from working with orangutans. His direction is based a lot on his experiences as an actor-he understands their insecurity (and how insecure they are working for HIM), and knows how to mold the performance and keep them comfortable, not always an easy task. He also described the challenge of finding appropriate locations in L.A. that still look period, and his method of auditioning largely through tapes rather than meeting people face to face. He said he still learns on every movie he does, and loves his work. (and said there were a few scenes he cut, including a pretty good chase scene involving the mounties) Just a fine old gentleman. A little stiffer now, maybe, but a true movie star.
Jack Marinoon 31 Oct 2008 at 11:04 pm 11I like to see what Harry thinks of Gran Tarino
Mulholland Kevinon 01 Nov 2008 at 9:39 pm 12We just got back from viewing Changeling. I should have listened to you Dirty Harry. Your review is right on target. (Though I didn’t like Malkovich as much as you did. One accent per role should be the upper limit, I think.)
Rich in LAon 10 Nov 2008 at 7:30 am 13The Changeling lacks story focus and at two hours-twenty minutes is about 40 minutes too long. “
Whoever wrote the above words needs to have their head examined. True stories are not spec-script, 90 minute material; and I happened to walk out thinking the movie was perfect — and brilliantly focused.
The movie “The Changeling” is fascinating from beginning to end; and Angelina Jolie, Clint Eastwood — and the picture — will be Oscar winners.
anon :on 28 Dec 2008 at 6:35 pm 14You know what i just watched the movie online and i think it was brilliant
It seemed to me as though you were looking for small things to pick at just for the sake of it and it seems extremely petty to even bring up angelinas complexion, for instance.
It’s unneccessary and off the subject. Her compleion had to be pale and washed out because it was the fashion during that period to be extremely pale and it was very common to see women of that complexion during that time.
If she wasnt im sure you would have complained about that too..
and its funny because you cant just say that she did a good job in the ‘melodromatic scenes’ you just had to state that she ‘EVEN manages to do it with her dignity intact.’
It was obvious from the start of the review that it is bias therefore it is not a fair or true reflection of the movie itself