Changeling tells the story of Christine Collins - a mother who fights tooth and nail against police corruption and unthinkable odds in order to find her missing son, Walter. The film is written by J. Michael Straczynski and directed, produced and scored by Clint Eastwood. The film's message: never start a fight, but always finish it.
The film is set in the bustling, yet seedy, world of LA in the 1920s. Christine oversees a team of switchboard operators and is the single parent of her nine-year-old son, Walter. One day, she leaves work but misses her usual tram, arriving home slightly later than normal. When she returns, her son is nowhere to be found; the gentle piece of music playing begins to turn ominous in tone - a testament to Clint Eastwood's musical prowess. In desperation, she calls the police - who tell her nothing can be done until morning.
Walter goes missing on March 20th, 1928. In August of that same year, she receives an impromptu visit from the LAPD. They tell her that Walter has been found and he's in the process of being returned to her from Ohio (where he was supposedly found in the company of a vagrant man). When she greets him, though, she's struck with awe - he's not her son. In shock, she tells Captain Jones that she doesn't know who he is. He manages to get her to co-operate, though, and the LA press snap pictures of mother and 'son' together.
All seems to be working well until Christine tends to the boy after he slips in the bath - she sees the boy is circumcised. She drags him out into the hallway and measures him - he's three inches shorter than when last measured (five months previous). She calls Captain Jones and he gives her lip-service about what stress can do to a child. She refuses to co-operate so he sends in a counsellor (who proceeds to drag 'Walter' around the neighbourhood in order to have neighbours judge him 'objectively').
Soon, we are greeted with the presence of Reverend Briegleb (played by John Malkovich) - a local pastor who proselytises about the evils of the LAPD on his community radio programme. He asks to meet Christine at the church one morning. When she arrives, he shows her an article printed earlier in the morning insinuating that Christine might not be looking after Walter properly from shock (and so she might be the reason for his extreme physical changes).
Reverend Briegleb says: "Many children have been sacrificed to expediency; your boy is not the first, but, depending on what you choose to do, he might be the last...". He also informs Christine of various corruptions in the LAPD - one such corrpution is that police officers are able to kill criminals if they refuse to co-operate.
With the Reverend's help, Christine succours the confidence to take on the establishment. She receives testimonies from Walter's dentist (who notes extreme differences in the two children's teeth), and his teacher - who also notices differences in behaviour. (Both are prepared to give evidence in a court of law.)
The following morning, Christine gives a statement to the local press outside the town hall, stating that she has testimonies and will soon be speaking out against the corruption and incompetence of the LAPD. An officer present calls Captain Jones and notifies him. He issues an order to have Christine brought back to LAPD headquarters and brought in "through the back door".
Christine is told by the Captain that she's either lying about Walter or she's not aware of the fact that she's lying - either she's a liar or she's crazy. On that basis, he has Christine thrown into an asylum for being a "danger to the public and the peace". He does this illegally without issuing a warrant and also doing so before the warrant is issued - both of which are extremely illegal actions. Meanwhile, an investigator at the LAPD receives a call about a youth holed up illegally in a ranch in Wineville and tends to the case.
When Christine enters the asylum, she pleads with the head nurse to let her go and states that she's being blackmailed by police. She's hosed down and given a brisk, degrading, brusk cavity search. Upon seeing this scene, I couldn't help but juxtapose it with how Angelina Jolie is presented in 'Girl, Interrupted'.
Christine meets a woman called Carol Dexter. She notices that Christine's not eating, so she tells her: "Eat; eating's normal. You gotta do everything you can in here to appear normal." Christine tells her that she's sane, to which Carol replies: "No matter what you do, you'll appear insane - if you smile too much, you're delusional (you're stifling hysteria); if you don't smile, you're depressed; if you remain neutral, you're emotionally withdrawn." Carol states that she was admitted after one of her clients (she was a prostitute) beat her up (the client of which turned out to be a cop). When she lodged a formal complaint to the LAPD, she was thrown into the nuthouse - along with dozens of other innocent girls - under Code 12 of a relevant police act.
When the investigating officer arrives at Wineville, he comes upon a man whose car has broken down at the side of the road. He asks the man where the Northcott Ranch is. The man proceeds to reach into the back of his truck in order to put away his gasoline and he almost reaches for a 12-gauge shortgun he has in back. However, he refrains and gives the policeman directions. The cop arrives at the ranch and looks around the scene (finding an empty chicken coop, and axes and knives strewn about the ground) when he's startled by a boy who sees him and tries to flee into the house. He takes the boy into custody.
Meanwhile, at the asylum, Christine is being studied by the head psychiatrist. Christine tries to remain neutral and unaffected throughout his questioning. When he asks her if she minds how she's been treated, she says that she doesn't - the nurses are just trying to "cover all their bases" (by doing such things as testing for syphilis). When she's asked if Walter is her son, she says no (in stark contrast to the picture of her with 'Walter' at the train station taken in August). When she's asked if the police are just doing their job she says: "Yes; they're here to help," to which the man replies: "Really? That's not what you said to the head nurse - you told her that the police were 'conspiring against you'. Right, Ms Collins?" She begins to crumble.
Reverend Briegleb arrives at the LAPD headquarters shortly afterwards with hundreds of protestors in tow, demanding that Captain Jones tell him where Christine is. He tells her she's in a "safe place" that she needed to go to in order to maintain public peace. When the Reverend leaves, he calls the cop who was previously investigating the Northcott ranch and asks him to return. However, after he interviews the boy - who turns out to be named Sanford Clark - he finds out that the boy and his older cousin (Gordon Northcott) could potentially be at the heart of one of the state's biggest ever murder investigations. Sanford tells the officer that he and his cousin are responsible for the deaths of up to 20 children at the Ranch. When Sanford looks through the pictures of missing children, he picks out several photographs of children he remembers being held at the ranch - one of whom turns out to be Walter Collins.
Upon going back to the ranch with Sanford, the officer (accompanied by several others) asks the boy to dig where he believes the boys' bodies lie. After several minutes he unearths several skeletons. The investigator requests the aid of every officer within a 20-mile radius and phones back to the LAPD. Shortly afterwards, an article is published (which soon comes into the hands of Reverend Briegleb). The reverend storms the asylum along with California's leading civil-case lawyer and orders the release of Christine Collins. (Shortly afterwards - after she tells the men of the mistreatment and illegal holding of innocent, sane women - all of the women being held under Code 12 are released). When Carol and the others leave, we see the dainty frame of Christine (who's wearing her trademark, floral bonnet) standing at the foot of the entrance of the asylum. Carol throws Christine a look of deep gratitude and pride.
'Walter' is interviewed by the investigative officer who found the bodies of the missing boys and he cracks when he's told he could be prosecuted for impeding a police investigation. The boy says that his real name is Arthur Hutchins and that he wanted to come to LA to meet 'Telmex' - a character in a series of films - and ride his horse. Meanwhile, when Gordon returns home to Vancouver to see his sister she has her husband call the police. Soon afterwards he is arrested and taken into custody.
Christine pays for Arthur to be returned home. The Chief of Police oversees his returning. When he greets his mother, the Chief is giving a statement to the LA press. As Arthur is getting on the train, he tells his mother that it wasn't his fault - "It wasn't even my idea; the police told me to do it". The press members hear this comment and note it with curiousness.
At the civil trial, Captain Jones and the Chief of Police are both fired for malpractice, never again entitled to stand in the LAPD. Meanwhile, Gordon Northcott is being tried in a smaller, criminal trial. After the jury deliberates, they reach their verdict: they find him guilty of 20 counts of murder in the first degree. Gordon is sentenced to be hanged after being held for two months.
The final scene we see takes place a few years after Gordon's death. Christine is called by a 'Mrs Clay'. She tells Christine that a boy has been found. He turns out to be David Clay. David tells of how one night he and Walter and another boy escaped through a hole in the coop. Walter and the other boy were out when David became stuck. His noisy attempt at escape roused the attention of Gordon Northcott. Walter went back to help free David and all three escaped. David spent several years moving in and out of orphanages through fear of being faced with a reprisal kidnapping. Christine Collins kept looking for Walter but never found him.
I found the film riveting. The score was simple and elegant and the set pieces made one feel one was immersed in LA as it actually was in 1928. Angelina Jolie played the part of Christine simply and elegantly, bringing the character alive with the gentleness of her eyes alone - each exchange was like softest velvet; some were as knives. It's certainly up there alongside such greats as the Shawshank Redemption, LA Confidential and Stand by Me. It's certainly one of Clint's finest efforts - perhaps even exceeding Million Dollar Baby and Gran Torino - and it offers lots of commentary on contemporary society - if one wants to read it in that way.
Rating: 9/10. If I had a handle on more films I'd give it a 10. It's a little wearisome at over two hours in length but it's a worthy and worthwhile investment.
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