'Changeling' has too much melodrama, but not much soul

Changeling
Cast: Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Jeffrey Donovan, Michael Kelly, Clm Feore
Director: Clint Eastwood
Rating: ** 1/2

Clint Eastwood’s latest is yet another drama inspired by the true story about the Wineville Chicken Murders in Riverside County, California.

As has been characteristic of the Eastwood style, this film too is studied, sure-handed, deliberate and begins subtly before revealing its hidden strengths. Unfortunately Changeling also degenerates into a high-emotion wringer, a state where melodrama begins to puncture the believability after a point.

Set in 1928, the film begins with the disappearance of a young boy, Walter (Gattlin Griffith). His mother Christine Collins (Jolie) is understandably frantic and seeks help from the Los Angeles police only to be conned into accepting another boy in place of her own.

She resists at first but decides to play along when she realises the alternatives are fast diminishing, yet she never tires of searching for her missing son. Her efforts receive a boost from some inmates of the psychiatric ward she is incarcerated in and also from the pro-active radio evangelist Rev. Gustav Briegleb (John Malkovich), a self-appointed critic of the corrupt Los Angeles police department.

Eastwood is quite demonstrative about the melancholia of the period, the background score is spare and Tom Stern’s visuals are elegant but bare-bones rudimentary. The pace is also quite languid. J Michael Strazynski’s screenplay stays true to the original events and it’s recreation by Eastwood is also well in keeping with those times and events.

Jolie’s intensity is unwavering while her shrouds appear distracting. She stays in character but it appears almost mechanical. Even Eastwood as director fails to draw out the finer tensions in the story.

His orchestration of the drama fails to hit the right notes towards the end and you actually end-up feeling bereft. On the surface it’s quite a thrilling watch but if you dig deep, you’ll find it’s really unfulfilling!