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‘Changeling’ Cannes Do
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The combo of Clint Eastwood’s direction with Angelina Jolie’s performance is every bit as good as you’d expect. ‘Changeling,’ which premiered at Cannes on Tuesday, is destined to become part of early Los Angeles corruption lore as surely as ‘L.A. Confidential’ and ‘Chinatown.’
In typical Eastwood style, the director begins with the personal to engage us before moving on to the public arena. In this true story circa 1929, Jolie plays Christine Collins, a single mom who returns from work to find her ten-year-old son missing.
After five months, the police claim to have found Collins’ son in Illinois. A huge media event is planned to document the reunion at the train station. But when the boy shows up, it’s not her son at all. Rather than risk embarrassment, the police toss the “hysterical” mother in an insane asylum.
Her cause is taken up by radio evangelist Rev. Gustav Briegleb (John Malkovich) who’s heck-bent on exposing the fraudulence of the L.A. Police Department, City Hall, and the newspaper.
Jolie does some of her best work, better even than ‘A Mighty Heart,’ where the frizz and accent were a little studied. She is completely connected, layered, understated. This performance might possibly win her a second Oscar.
The film rarely seems to drag in spite of its 141 minute run time, and Eastwood’s recreation of Los Angeles’ sleepy, dusty, small town beginnings (including some seamless CGI panoramas) are a tribute to his continuing growth as an auteur. He’s one of the few elder statesman filmmakers whose pictures get better each time.
‘Changeling’ is tentatively slated for release in November of this year, which means the studio thinks it has a good shot at some Oscar noms. I agree. It also has a good shot at taking home the top prize at Cannes.
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