Popcorn & a Movie

Watching a new Clint Eastwood movie is like listening to an old record for the first time – you expect it to be great, partly because of the pedigree, and partly because it’s withstood the test of time. And indeed what you get is a classically mastered artistic output, laced with grandeur and an aura of importance. But being “classic” unfortunately does not necessarily translate into “great.” Sure, there will be good qualities – the artist/art is classic for a reason. It certainly isn’t guaranteed to live up to your expectations.
Such is the case with Eastwood’s latest Oscar bid, Changeling. Graced with a seasoned, studied hand and emotionally arresting story material, Changeling is sensational in concept but middling in execution. It LOOKS great, of course, and it presents itself as nothing short of masterful. And anyone not made of stone will surely fall victim to the emotional pits and falls of a mother battling police corruption and oppression in a quest for the safe return of her kidnapped son.
In its entirety, however, Changeling meanders and suffers through a general lack of direction. The story ends about as many times as the final Lord of the Rings entry, yet never reaches a rewarding conclusion. It’s based on a true story and is in fact handcuffed by its dedication to presenting us with a factually accurate representation, tacking on epilogues and taking us down alleys that never return to a main street.
Then there’s Angelina Jolie in a monotone “take it or leave it” performance – the Movie Gal took it, I left it. Playing the mother in duress, Jolie isn’t so much bad as detaching. I was moved not by her character or performance but by the hurdles and trials forced upon her. It was the FACT that these things happened that horrified me, not my empathy or vicarious experience. The emphasis is always more on “what” is happening, and not the emotional experience OF it happening (coincidentally, I rented The Happening last weekend. My recommendation to you – don’t).
Generally, this lack of emotion (or sometimes a substituted amount of canned emotion) sums up my experience with Changeling as a whole. It never managed to draw me in or carry me away. It just sort of sat there, like a shiny generic Christmas present that fails to inspire. And that, above everything else, is why Changeling falls short of the greatness for which it aspires.
True greatness inspires.