Eastwood shines again

At this point in his half-century-long film career, Clint Eastwood’s directing skills have arguably surpassed his acting credentials. He has garnered a total of 10 Academy Award nominations, eight of which are for directing or producing.

Whether he has a knack for choosing the best scripts or just knows how to get the best out of his actors, Eastwood has delivered another strong film in “Changeling” that will certainly be getting some early Oscar buzz.

“Changeling” is based on a true story about Walter Collins (Gattlin Griffith), a boy who went missing in Los Angeles in 1928, and his mother Christine’s (Angelina Jolie) endless attempts to find him amidst an unconcerned police force and a parade of false media.

The true eloquence of the film lies in Eastwood’s ability to seamlessly interweave the mother’s plight with a corrupt police force and a lurking serial killer. The film follows the case very closely, as veteran screenwriter J. Michael Straczynski spent a year researching the case files.

The story gets interesting when the police inform Christine that they have found her estranged son. But when she goes to see him, she says the boy is not her son, and she has evidence to prove it.

In order to overshadow the mishap amidst recent allegations of police corruption, the police silence Christine’s protests and have her admitted to a psychiatric institution. Against the powers that be, Christine refuses to give up and takes on the police as well as the criminalization of mental illness.

John Malkovich plays Reverend Gustav Briegleb, an activist who uses his radio show to expose police injustice and to help Christine’s cause.

Jeffrey Donovan does well as Capt. Jones, the man ordered to bury Christine’s case, but the highlight of the film is Jason Butler Harner’s portrayal of serial killer Gordon Northcutt. With minimal screen time, Harner’s performance as an axe-wielding child slayer is chilling in its realism.

“Changeling” attacks the structure of power, one in which police were ordered to cover things up and imprison troublemakers without cause. Though Christine Collins' search yielded no solace, her struggle is one that needed be told.