Movie Stats:
Released 2008 (France)
American, in English
Director - Clint Eastwood
Stars - Angelina Jolie, Jeffrey Donovan, John Malkovich
Plot Summary:
Based on a true story. In the 1920s, after the son of Christine Collins (Jolie) goes missing, the LAPD brings the wrong child back to her and then has her committed to a mental institution when she doesn’t accept him as hers. Donovan co-stars as her main LAPD antagonist, Captain J.J. Jones, and Malkovich as the anti-police crusader who tries to help her, Rev. Gustav Briegleb.
Warnings:
Minor violence; minor gore; minor blue language; non-consensual drug use (psychiatric meds); very brief female nudity (breasts, butt).
Bad Stuff:
It’s a little overly detailed/too long.
This may sound petty, but there’s a particular musical piece used throughout the film that features a saxophone (I believe) and it feels completely out of place. The rest of the film is so great with the period details and then that songs starts and I’m like, “What’s Kenny G doing here?”
Good Stuff:
The acting is stellar. I particularly enjoyed Donovan, who made me thoroughly loathe Captain Jones, and Geoff Pierson as S.S. Hahn, Christine’s fiery, righteously indignant lawyer.
Loved the costuming and set design.
After doing a little research on the internet, I discovered that the film seems to have stuck pretty close to the facts of the case, which I appreciate.
About the Performance:
I’m not super familiar with Jolie’s work but always have this gut feeling that I don't like her. When the film first started, I was skeptical that I could buy her as a 1920s woman. My skepticism was unwarranted. She was really good in this. She imbued Christine with the perfect mix of vulnerability and strength. This is a horrible story, so I would have felt bad for her no matter what, but Jolie’s performance made me like Christine.
Other performances of Jolie’s that I’ve reviewed: The Tourist.
The Verdict:
Holy cow, this story is infuriating. Watching a man, a total stranger to the situation, spend two hours insisting that he knows better than a woman whether a child is hers or not, is rage-inducing on a level that’s difficult to convey. And it’s not as though the film outrageously embellishes the details. Eastwood is a very talented director and he had a great cast and crew to work with. My biggest complaint is the film’s length. It could easily be shortened. The trial scenes, for example, could be cut entirely and replaced with text, “such and such happened to so and so at trial,” etc., and the film wouldn’t suffer for it. But that’s only a minor detraction to an otherwise excellent film. I’m surprised this one never got more attention.
I give it 4.25 stars.
2 comments:
I really enjoy watching Jolie as an actress; she tends to go all-in on performances.
I have not seen this movie, though, most likely because shit like that drives me crazy. Rage-inducing, indeed. Whenever someone asks me what time period I would like to live in, I always say, "now" because anytime before now pretty much sucked for women. And not that things don't suck for women now, but it could be so much worse, as this movie illustrates.
Sheesh.
Me too! I always say now or the future, unless I can visit the past as a rich white guy.
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