DVDfever.co.uk – The Changeling on DVD
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Posted: March 13th, 2009.
Incredible and heart breaking – 5 stars, The Sun
Harrowing and impressive drama – 4 stars, The Mirror
Compelling, adult period thriller, with an Oscar-assured performance from Angelina Jolie – 5 stars, Empire
To find her son, she did what no one else dared.
Clint Eastwood creates another award nominated* cinematic masterpiece with Changeling, available to own and rent on DVD and Blu-ray from 30th March 2008. Cast in the role of Christine Collins, Angelina Jolie (Wanted, A Mighty Heart) delivers a stunningly moving performance as a single mother in 1920s Los Angeles whose worst nightmare becomes a reality.
Nominated for both Best Actress and Best Original Score in Januarys Golden Globes®, Changeling tells the true story of one mothers harrowing yet heroic journey as the love for her son drives her to take on the LAPD in her search for justice.
Christine Collins is a busy single mother living in a working class suburb of 1920s Los Angeles with her son Walter. In the absence of Walters father, Christine is forced to bring up Walter alone, working long hours in a telephone exchange to ensure she can provide for her son. One Saturday afternoon, Christine is called unexpectedly to work, forcing her to leave her son home alone. But when she returns in the evening, Walter is gone.
Alone and terrified she is forced to wait over 24 hours until Walter can be reported missing to the police. The torturous search for her son begins and over weeks and months it seems probable that Walter may never return home. Until one day she receives a phone call from the LAPD informing them Walter has been found. Overcome with emotion and unbridled joy, Christine prepares to meet her son at the train station, surrounded by LAPD dignitaries and the press.
But when Walter arrives Christine is lost for words, the boy returned to her is not her son. In a whirlwind of flashing cameras and intense pressure from the over bearing Police Captain J. J. Jones (Jeffrey Donovan Hitch, Law & Order) they persuade her to take the boy home on a trial basis. Still unconvinced Christine is forced to accept.
When she returns home with the boy and without anyone around her she concludes with total certainty that the boy is not hers owing to the significant physical and emotional differences between this boy and the son she loves. Christine cannot accept the injustice being pushed upon her and continues to challenge the Prohibition-era Los Angeles police force at every turn aggravating Captain J.J. Jones and putting herself at significant risk.
As Christine becomes more forceful with her objections and raises media attention to her plight, the LAPD do everything in their power to discredit her character and sanity. She begins to realise that women who challenge the system dont live to tell the tale. But as the media spotlight falls upon her, she receives help from benevolent local activist Reverend Gustav Briegleb (John Malkovich Burn After Reading, Eragon), a fierce critic of the corruption that has infested the Police Force.
Based on the actual incident that rocked Californias legal system, Changeling tells the shocking tale of one mothers quest to find her son, and those who wont stop until they silence her.
DVD Extras include:
- Partners In Crime: Clint Eastwood and Angelina Jolie (13 mins 35 secs)
- The Common Thread: Angelina Jolie Becomes Christine Collins (5 mins)
The DVD is out on March 30th, it runs for 142 minutes and retails for £19.99 on DVD,but is currently on Amazon at the link above for £11.98.A Blu-ray version is also available for £15.68.
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Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.