Changeling

Cast & Crew

Above the line View all

Director
Clint Eastwood
Producer
James Whitaker
Producer
Ron Howard
Producer
Tim Moore
Writer
J. Michael Straczynski

Cast View all

Carol Dexter
Amy Ryan
Christine Collins
Angelina Jolie
Capt. J.J. Jones
Jeffrey Donovan
Rev. Gustav Briegleb
John Malkovich

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Synopsis

Genre: Biography | Mystery

Clint Eastwood directs Angelina Jolie and John Malkovich in a provocative thriller based on actual events: Changeling. In the film, Christine Collins' (Jolie) prayers are met when her kidnapped son is returned. But amidst the frenzy of the photo-op reunion, she realizes this child is not hers. Facing corrupt police and a skeptical public, she desperately hunts for answers, only to be confronted by a truth that will change her forever. Los Angeles, 1928: On a Saturday morning in a working-class suburb, Christine said goodbye to her son, Walter, and left for work. When she came home, she discovered he had vanished. A fruitless search ensues, and months later, a boy claiming to be the nine-year-old is returned. Dazed by the swirl of cops, reporters and her conflicted emotions, Christine allows him to stay overnight. But in her heart, she knows he is not Walter. As she pushes authorities to keep looking, she learns that in Prohibition-era L.A. women don't challenge the system and live to tell their story. Slandered as delusional and unfit, Christine finds an ally in activist Reverend Briegleb (Malkovich), who helps her fight the city to look for her missing boy. Based on the actual incident that rocked California's legal system, Changeling tells the shocking tale of a mother's quest to find her son, and those who won't stop until they silence her.

Latest Updates

Changeling out on DVD

Published on: February 11, 2009

Changeling has been released on DVD.

The central character in 'Changeling' is Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie), a working-class single mother who comes home from her job one day to discover her nine-year-old son Walter has gone missing. A few months later, the corrupt LAPD delivers to Christine a boy they insist is Walter, but she knows is not. Soon she finds herself incarcerated in a psychiatric ward. Meanwhile, an investigation is conducted that leads to a creepy serial killer.

The only bonus materials on the Changeling DVD are two video featurettes with a total runtime of 18 minutes.

"Partners in Crime: Clint Eastwood and Angelina Jolie" is a reasonably interesting 13-minute making-of. The screenwriter, J. Michael Straczynski, talks about discovering transcripts at Los Angeles City Hall of Christine Collins hearings dated October 1928. Eastwood, producer Brian Grazer, the costumer and the production designer all speak briefly about making the film. Jolie, Malkovich, child actor Gattlin Griffith and several other actors discuss what it is was like to work with Eastwood.

The other extra is the five-minute "The Common Thread: Angelina Jolie Becomes Christine Collins," which contains some information about the lead actress' wardrobe, including the 1920s-style jacket with a dropped waist, a cloche hat and a 1930s dress she wears toward the end of the movie. Those were clip-on roller skates she wore in the scene where her character was working as the supervisor of a group of telephone operators.

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Angelina Jolie up for Best Actress Academy Award

Published on: January 22, 2009

Angelina Jolie has been nominated for Best Actress by the Academy Awards for his performance in Changeling. Nominations for the 81st Academy Awards were announced today by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis and Oscar® winner Forest Whitaker.

Academy members from each of the branches vote to determine the nominees in their respective categories – actors nominate actors, film editors nominate film editors, etc. In the Animated Feature Film and Foreign Language Film categories, nominations are selected by vote of multi-branch screening committees. All voting members are eligible to select the Best Picture nominees.

Official screenings of all motion pictures with one or more nominations will begin for members this weekend at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Screenings also will be held at the Academy's Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood and in London, New York and San Francisco.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2008 will be presented on Sunday, February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

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Angelina Jolie on Changeling

Published on: November 28, 2008

Film4 has caught up with 'Changeling' star Angelina Jolie. Jolie talks about coming to the story of Christine Collins, a tale that is truly stranger than fiction. She also shares how strange it is that the story had not been heard before the film, debating wether it could be a possible consipiracy. Jolie also shares what i was like to portray the character and how close it brought her to her own family. 'Changeling' is out in theathers.

"...I was so relieved to step away from this movie. I would have my kids there at lunch, and at the end of the day I was so happy I knew where they were, that they were safe. I wanted to just play all the time. During the filming I got pregnant, so by the end of it, I was one hundred percent focused on babies. When it started I wanted to get pregnant..."

Read the full interview here.

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