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| Movie Review: Changeling Alternate Title: The Snake Pit
Story: Remember when Emperor Joseph
II said to young Mozart, "My dear young man, don't take it too
hard. Your work is ingenious. It's quality work. There are simply too
many notes, that's all". That is the problem in director Clint
Eastwood's new film, written by J. Michael Straczynski
- there are simply too many plot lines. There is no way to stuff a story about missing
children, corrupt police, a sympathetic single mother, unwarranted incarcerations
in mental institutions, a serial killer and a trial into one film and
come out without something that is more like an over the top soap opera,
sob story. There are too many horrors and too many outrages to believe
the story and yet we are told it is true (not just based on a true story).
So what went wrong? Sorry Mr. Eastwood, but we the audience, need a
focus. The story never coalesces. Every scene is fraught with sorrow,
anguish, tears and wailing. It is 1928, pre-Depression Los Angeles, Christine
Collins returns from her job as a roller skating telephone manager to
discover her 10 year old son is missing. The police ignore her report
and months later substitute another boy found in the Mid-West for her
son. The lady righteously doth protest and protest and protest. Her
lack of cooperation gets her tossed into the loony bin. She manages
to enlist the aid of a local preacher with a wide band radio audience,
cross paths with the one apparent honest LA cop and on and on. The film also offends by having more than one
ending, Just when I thought it would fade to black we get to see a few
more endings. By that point in time, I was planning what to have for
dinner. Save yourself time and money and read a good book. Watch the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gki4gmYx10 Acting: Angelina Jolie as Christine Collins, has done
far better work. Her over the top performance was disappointing.John
Malkovich as the Rev. Gustav Briegleb, is his usual creepy
self - even as the good guy. Jeffrey Donovan as Capt.
Jones, Michael Kelly as Detective Lester Ybarra and
Colm Feore as Chief James E. Davis were fine in their
roles as LAPD guys, good and bad. Jason Butler Harner
as the murdering Gordon Northcott, was squirmy and believable.
Amy Ryan as Carol Dexter, another inmate in the loony bin was
underutilized. Denis O’Hare as Dr. Jonathan Steele,
was terrific. Trivia: Clint Eastwood weighed 11 lbs 6 oz at birth.At
age 74, he became the oldest person to win the Best Director Oscar for
Million Dollar Baby (2004). He directed 8 different actors in Oscar-nominated
performances: Gene Hackman, Meryl Streep, Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Marcia
Gay Harden, Morgan Freeman, Hilary Swank and himself (in Unforgiven
(1992) and Million Dollar Baby (2004)). Hackman, Penn, Robbins, Freeman
and Swank won Oscars for their performances in Eastwood's movies.
Predilection: None
Critters: Chickens
Food: Breakfast food.
Sex Spectrum: None
Soundtrack: Typical music by Clint Eastwood.
Opening Titles: Simple type with title. Al credits
at end.
Visual Art: A saturated canvas throughout. The under
populated Los Angeles of 1928 looked fake.
Theater Audience: Fairly crowded for a midweek afternoon
show.
Weather: It's LA - what do you think?
Sappy Factor: 0
Quirky Meter: 0
Squirm Scale: Child abduction and murder, police
corruption and shock treatments are all squirmy.
Drift Factor: I looked at my watch very often and
found that time was standing still.
Predictability Level: High
Tissue Usage: 0
Oscar Worthy: No
Big Screen or Rental: Skip it.
Length: Too long at 2 hours and 20 minutes.
LOBO HOWLS: 4
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