Changeling (film)

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Changeling
Directed by	Clint Eastwood
Produced by	Clint Eastwood Brian Grazer Ron Howard Robert Lorenz
Written by	J. Michael Straczynski
Starring	Angelina Jolie John Malkovich Amy Ryan Geoff Pierson Jeffrey Donovan Jason Butler Harner Colm Feore Michael Kelly
Music by	Clint Eastwood
Cinematography	Tom Stern
Editing by	Joel Cox
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	October 24, 2008
Running time	140 min.[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Changeling is an upcoming American period/thriller film set for release in October 2008. Loosely based upon the real-life Wineville Chicken Murders, the film is set in the late 1920s and tells of a woman who comes to suspect that the son returned to her after a kidnapping is not her own. Changeling was directed by Clint Eastwood and written by J. Michael Straczynski. The film was produced by Imagine Entertainment and Malpaso Productions for Universal Pictures. Ron Howard was originally slated to direct, but scheduling difficulties and Universal's desire to fast track the project led to his replacement by Eastwood.

Angelina Jolie stars in the lead role with support from John Malkovich, Geoff Pierson, Jeffrey Donovan, Jason Butler Harner, Colm Feore, Amy Ryan and Michael Kelly. Principal photography began on October 15, 2007 and was completed in December 2007. Changeling is scheduled for general release in North America on October 31, 2008 after a limited release from October 24, 2008. It had its premiere in competition at the 61st Cannes Film Festival on May 20, 2008, where it received positive reviews.

Contents 1 Premise 2 Production 2.1 Development 2.2 Casting 2.3 Writing 3 Release 4 Critical reception 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Premise

The film is set in 1920s Los Angeles and is based upon the Wineville Chicken Murders, an infamous kidnapping and murder case that occurred from 1928 through 1930 and received nationwide attention in the United States. When the son of Christine Collins (Jolie) is returned to her after being kidnapped, she suspects that the child is not her own. After being vilified as an unfit mother, Christine confronts the city authorities and corruption in the Los Angeles Police Department in order to find out the truth. The real names of all the characters have been retained, though Eastwood requested that the words "based on a true story" be removed from the synopsis in the official studio press release, saying "The important thing […] is whether it’s a good story, and if it’s well told."^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

[edit] Production

The film was made by Imagine Entertainment and Malpaso Productions for Universal Studios,^[7] and was produced by Imagine's Brian Grazer and Ron Howard with Malpaso's Robert Lorenz^[3] and Clint Eastwood who also directed. Tim Moore and Jim Whitaker were executive producers.^[4]

Principal photography began on October 15, 2007^[8] and took 35 days.^[2] Filming took place at locations in San Dimas, California (which doubled for 1920s Pasadena, California),^[9] at the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California, and in the Park Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, which was converted into a replica of the 1920s Los Angeles City Council chambers. Cinematography is by Tom Stern, the film is edited by Joel Cox, and the score is by Eastwood.^[10] In what has been described as a "technical innovation", Eastwood and Stern used hand-held wireless video screens to watch the live feed of a particular shot.^[2]

[edit] Development

In June 2006, Universal Studios and Ron Howard's Imagine Entertainment bought J. Michael Straczynski's spec script with the intention for Howard to direct. The film was on a shortlist of projects for Howard after coming off the commercial success of The Da Vinci Code.^[11] Straczynski indicated that the film was talked about as a "prestige" project for the studio,^[12] and said that, "Once the script got out there, there was a line-up of female stars who wanted to be in it because [the role] is astonishing [...] Angelina [Jolie] jumped to the front of the line."^[13] In March 2007, the production was fast tracked by Universal. When Howard instead opted to direct Frost/Nixon, potentially following that up with the sequel to The Da Vinci Code, it became clear that he could not direct Changeling until 2009.^[3] Howard and producer Brian Grazer instead began looking for other directors to helm the project. Straczynski said that five A-list directors were interested.^[14] Clint Eastwood eventually agreed to direct,^[3] after reading the script and "loving it".^[13]

[edit] Casting

• Angelina Jolie signed to appear as Christine Collins in March 2007.^[15] Jolie said of her role: "I thought this was going to be one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done, given the subject matter, but instead it’s been the easiest,"^[2] while Eastwood described the role as "a great tour de force for a woman".^[16] Jolie also noted that as a mother herself, the subject of a child kidnapping was "the last thing I want to think about [...] It's very emotional. Every day I'm crying. I don't know who's going to want to see me crying in every scene."^[17] Jolie said of Eastwood's directing, "You’ve got to get your stuff together and get ready because he doesn’t linger…which I think is wonderful. He expects people to come prepared and get on with their work.”^[18]
• John Malkovich joined the production in October 2007^[19] as firebrand Presbyterian evangelist Gustav Briegleb, who helps rally the public behind Collins' cause.^[2] Malkovich said taking direction from Eastwood was "delightful" and described his directing style as "[redefining] economical [...] He doesn’t say 'action,' he doesn’t say 'cut' — he doesn’t say much, really. He's fairly quiet." Malkovich added, "Some [directors] — like Clint Eastwood or Woody Allen — don’t really like to be tortured by a million questions. They hire you, and they figure you know what to do, and you should do it […] And that’s fine by me.”^[20]
• Amy Ryan plays Collins' best friend, Carol Dexter;^[10] a prostitute who teaches survival skills to Collins^[21] and is wrongfully accused of a crime by the police.^[22] The character has been described by Ryan as being in a "dire situation". She said that while her character doesn't come to blows with Jolie's, there were "some good fight scenes between us.” Like Jolie, Ryan didn't audition for her role in person, instead sending in a tape to Eastwood.^[23] Ryan also noted the calmness of the set,^[24] observing that Eastwood was "approachable and conversational"^[25] and that her experiences working with director Sidney Lumet on 100 Centre Street and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead were useful due to Eastwood's similar preference for filming a small number of takes.^[26][23] Ryan cited the filming of a fight scene during which Eastwood showed her "how to throw a movie punch" as her favorite moment of the production.^[25]
• Jason Butler Harner plays Gordon Northcott, a mechanic accused of murder.^[19] Harner described his character as "a horrible, horrible, wonderful person."^[27]

Also starring are Geoff Pierson as "flamboyant" defense attorney Sammy "S.S." Hahn, Jeffrey Donovan as LAPD captain J.J. Jones,^[2] Colm Feore as the chief of police James E. Davis,^[10][19] Michael Kelly,^[4] Denis O'Hare,^[28] and Devon Conti.^[29]

[edit] Writing

"The story is just so bizarre that you need something to remind you that I'm not making this stuff up. So it seemed important to me to put in those clippings because you reach the part of the story where you go, 'Come on he's got to have gone off the rails with this.' Turn the page and there is indeed an article confirming it, which is why, in terms of writing the script, I hued [sic] very close to the facts. The story is already extraordinary enough."

—Screenwriter J. Michael Straczynski placed newspaper clippings into physical copies of the script in order to remind people it was a true story.[30]

After twenty years working in television, writing and producing shows such as Babylon 5 and Jeremiah, J. Michael Straczynski felt he needed a break from the medium. Having been a reporter before moving into television, Straczynski still kept in touch with people from his previous profession. A contact at Los Angeles City Hall told him about "something he should see", and after reading transcripts of the City Council welfare hearings in Christine Collins' case, Straczynski become fascinated with the story. He spent a year researching it through archive criminal, county courthouse, and city hall records, before obtaining enough information on the case to be able to "figure out how to tell it", and within twelve days he had completed the first draft of the script, which was passed to Ron Howard via Straczynski's agent. The script was sold within eleven days of its completion.^[30][13]

Straczynski stuck closely to the facts of the case while writing the script, saying there were only two moments at which he had to "figure out what happened", due to the lack of information in the public records. He cited as an example a scene set in a psychiatric hospital, for which there was only limited after-the-fact testimony. Straczynski had to extrapolate events based upon standard practise in such institutions at the time.^[30]

After Howard stepped down as director, it began to look as if the film would not be made. The script was cited as "one of those blessed and doomed... that periodically floats around Hollywood: a truly gripping read that actors and directors respond to with passion but that nonetheless has a hard time getting made." Straczynski said of the situation, "There are all kinds of circumstances that can affect whether or not something goes forward... I've gotten very Zen about the whole thing."^[31] The shooting script was not changed from Straczynski's first draft.^[32] Straczynski said "Clint's funny—if he likes it, he'll do it, that's the end of the discussion. When I met with him to ask, 'Do you want any changes, do you want any things cut, added to, subtracted from, whatever,' he said, 'No. The draft is fine. Let's shoot the draft.'"^[30]

[edit] Release

Changeling is scheduled for general release in North America on October 31, 2008. The studio will attempt to build positive word-of-mouth for the film by releasing it in select locations from October 24, 2008.^[33] Its premiere was held on May 20, 2008 in competition at the 61st Cannes Film Festival.^[34] The film was Eastwood's fifth to enter competition at the festival.^[35] Its appearance at Cannes was not part of the original release plan. Universal said it had been looking forward to the festival without the worry associated with screening a film there, until Eastwood made arrangements himself for Changeling's appearance. The film was still in post-production one week before the start of the festival.^[36]

Changeling is the first film made by Eastwood for a studio other than Warner Bros. since Absolute Power in 1997.^[2] Eastwood's successful track record at the Academy Awards has generated speculation that Changeling will find success at the 81st Academy Awards ceremony in 2009, which will honor outstanding achievements in film for 2008.^[37][38][39] Because of her pregnancy, Angelina Jolie will be performing minimal promotional duties for the film.^[40]

[edit] Critical reception

The film's screening at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival was met by rave reviews, prompting speculation it could be awarded the Palme d'Or.^[41] Damon Wise of Empire called the film "flawless",^[42] and Todd McCarthy of Variety said Changeling was "Emotionally powerful and stylistically sure-handed". He called it a "thematic companion piece" to Mystic River, but said it was "more complex and far-reaching" than Eastwood's previous entry at the festival in 2003. McCarthy praised Angelina Jolie's "top-notch" performance in the lead role, saying her performance "hits home" more directly than in A Mighty Heart (2007) due to the absence of affectation. He also said the film offered "a wealth of sterling supporting turns", praising Michael Kelly's performance in particular. McCarthy expressed admiration for Straczynski's "outstanding" script, which he said had "deceptive simplicity and ambition to it", and he praised Eastwood's direction, which he said honored the script by "underplaying the melodrama and not signaling the story's eventual dimensions at the outset". He said "The characters and sociopolitical elements are introduced with almost breathtaking deliberation, as dramatic force and artistic substance steadily mount" and that "In the end, Changeling joins the likes of Chinatown and L.A. Confidential as a sorrowful critique of the city's political culture."^[43]

Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter said Changeling put aside romantic ideas of a 1920s Los Angeles being a more innocent period, saying the film portrayed a city "awash in corruption and steeped in a culture that treats women as hysterical and unreliable beings when they challenge male wisdom". He said the story "adds a forgotten chapter to the L.A. noir of Chinatown and L.A. Confidential". Honeycutt noted that due to the film's close adherence to the true-life facts of the case, the drama sagged momentarily at one point, but that "Straczynski and Eastwood are good at cutting to the chase. Seldom does a 141-minute movie feel this short". Honeycutt praised Jolie's performance, saying she "completely shuns her movie star image" and "can appear vulnerable and steadfast in the same moment... She reminds us that there is nothing so fierce as a mother protecting her cub". But he said the supporting characters (with the exception of Amy Ryan's) "tend toward righteousness or badness without too many shades in between". Honeycutt had praise for Eastwood's "melodic" score that "evokes not only a period but also the mood of a city... undergoing galvanic changes" and that "[the] small-town feel to the street and sets, seeming oh-so-quaint to modern eyes, captures a society resistant to seeing what is really going on".^[44]

Oliver Séguret of Libération said the cast was the best part of the film. He had praise for the "magnetic" performances of the supporting actors and called Jolie "intense but discreet... beautiful but never dazzling". Séguret noted that instead of being a moving family drama, the film largely stayed outside this framework to concentrate on a portrait of a corrupt city. He said that while Changeling had no obvious defects, it was "perplexing" that other critics had such effusive praise for the film. He said that while Eastwood proved he was a capable director, and that he presented a solid recreation of the era, he never felt the director was inspired by the challenge the reconstruction posed. Séguret noted that Eastwood kept the story going like "smouldering embers", but that it seldom burst into flames. He said the effect was like placing the viewer in the position of a passenger in a limousine with all the options and air conditioning: comfortable but a little boring.^[45]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Changeling at the Internet Movie Database
• Changeling at Allmovie

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