"The Changeling" Drowns Story in Unnecessary Length

Running Time: 2 hrs. 21 min.

Release Date: October 24th, 2008 (limited)

MPAA Rating: R for violent and disturbing content, and language.

Distributors: Universal Pictures Distribution

Directed by: Clint Eastwood

JJ Rating: C-

Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie) goes to work and when she returns her son is missing. The LAPD help her get her son back. Captain J.J. Jones (Jeffrey Donovan) brings back home a boy that is not her boy and insists that it is. She denies that's her boy and with the help of Reverend Gustav Briegleb (John Malkovich) she exposes the LAPD for the major mistake that they made. The Changeling.

The production is awesome. The cinematography is fantastic. The acting is riveting, for the most part. But the story dragged on and on and on and on and on and on and it was like watching someone who is watching grass grow by the time the end credits came rolling around.

Angelina Jolie does not disappoint in her weeping, her anger, her frustration; her array of emotions are displayed for the audience in a rainbow of vibrant colors throughout the film. John Malkovich is a bold personality that was powerful and commanding.

By the time TheChangeling reached the halfway mark the story was done, but apparently the director, Clint Eastwood, was not and so the story was stretched out like water down coffee. It became weaker and weaker as the story went on and on.

I had looked forward to this film and now I wish I had never heard of it. I was disappointed in how it was done and that it was so long that I fell asleep during some parts. The Changeling is a film I don't ever want to see again and I would not recommend this film even to my worst enemy. Eastwood took what could have been riveting from start to finish and allowed it to drown itself in the unnecessary length. I have never seen a film commit suicide before my eyes, but I swear that's what I saw.