An hour after watching Clint Eastwood’s Changeling, I’m still trembling. Knowing it was going to be intense beforehand didn’t fully prepare me for the range of emotion I felt in reaction to the true story of Christine Collins and her son, Walter. When Jon Stewart interviewed Clint Eastwood on “The Daily Show”, he observed that many period pieces feature minorities and underdogs and heroes of our time. But not a lot is mentioned of the plight women endured during the 1920’s in the United States. Most of the stories are subverted or forgotten, which is one reason Eastwood was compelled to tell this story. Incidentally, Angelina Jolie earned my respect for her performance as Christine Collins. All of her bad roles are quickly forgiven and forgotten.
What at first seems like any tragic kidnapping case, “Changeling” quickly turns into a horrific account of a woman’s battle against sexism and downright misogyny implicit in the Los Angeles Police Department. From top to bottom, the LAPD repeatedly undermines the needs of a single woman begging for an investigation of her missing nine-year old son. A local pastor and radio show host, played by John Malkovich, constantly denounces the LAPD from the pulpit for their corruption and cover-ups. He volunteers his male voice to aid Collins’ search, his own outrage lending her courage to continue fighting the police chief.
Collins heroically gains leverage against the corruption standing in her way, but at the highest price. When the police department reunites her with the missing child, it is clear immediately that they simply replaced her son with an abandoned boy who loosely matched Walter’s description. The LAPD, hoping Collins would be so relieved with the return of her son, sought positive publicity in the wake of dwindling hope in their services. Arrogantly, they waved off Collins protests that the returned boy was someone else’s child.
The ensuing events are frustrating, haunting, demented, and outrageous. It is not a film to watch alone. The desire and need to react in the presence of another person is overwhelming. That is what makes this film worth seeing. It’s what makes this a very good movie.