Changeling (2008)
Biography, Crime, Drama |.
Changeling is a American mystery crime drama film directed, produced, and scored by Clint Eastwood and written by J. Michael Straczynski, that explores child endangerment, female disempowerment, political corruption, mistreatment of mental health patients, and the repercussions of violence. The script was based on real-life events, specifically the 1928 Wineville Chicken Coop Murders in Mira Loma, California. The film stars Angelina Jolie as a woman united with a boy who she realizes is not her missing son. When she tries to demonstrate this to the police and city authorities, she is vilified as delusional, labeled as an unfit mother, and confined to a psychiatric ward.
n Los Angeles in 1928, single mother Christine Collins returns home to discover her nine-year-old son, Walter, is missing. Reverend Gustav Briegleb publicizes Christine’s plight and rails against the LAPD for its incompetence, corruption and the extrajudicial punishment meted out by its “Gun Squad” led by Chief James E. Davis. Several months after Walter’s disappearance, the LAPD tells Christine that the boy has been found alive. Believing the positive publicity will negate recent criticism of the department, the LAPD organizes a public reunion. Although “Walter” claims he is Christine’s son, she says he is not. Captain J. J. Jones, the head of the LAPD’s Juvenile Division, insists the boy is Walter and pressures Christine into taking him home “on a trial basis”.
After Christine confronts Jones with physical discrepancies between “Walter” and her son, Jones arranges for a medical doctor to visit her. He tells Christine that “Walter” is three inches shorter than before his disappearance because trauma has shrunk his spine, and that the man who took Walter had him circumcised.
Director: Clint Eastwood
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Stars: Angelina Jolie, Colm Feore, Amy Ryan, John Malkovich, Jeffrey Donovan, Gattlin Griffith, Colm Feore
►Cast:
| Angelina Jolie | … | Christine Collins |
| Gattlin Griffith | … | Walter Collins |
| Michelle Gunn | … | Sandy |
| Jan Devereaux | … | Operator |
| Erica Grant | … | Operator |
| Antonia Bennett | … | Operator |
| Kerri Randles | … | Operator |
| Frank Wood | … | Ben Harris |
| Morgan Eastwood | … | Girl on Tricycle |
| Madison Hodges | … | Neighborhood Girl |
| John Malkovich | … | Rev. Gustav Briegleb |
| Colm Feore | … | Chief James E. Davis |
| Devon Conti | … | Arthur Hutchins |
| Ric Sarabia | … | Man at Diner |
| J.P. Bumstead | … | Cook |
| Jeffrey Donovan | … | Captain J.J. Jones |
| Debra Christofferson | … | Police Matron at Train |
| Russell Edge | … | Reporter at Train |
| Stephen W. Alvarez | … | Reporter at Train |
| Peter Gerety | … | Dr. Earl W. Tarr |
| Pete Rockwell | … | Reporter at Precinct |
| John Harrington Bland | … | Dr. John Montgomery |
| Pamela Dunlap | … | Mrs. Fox |
| Roger Hewlett | … | Officer Morelli |
| Jim Cantafio | … | Desk Sergeant |
| Michael Kelly | … | Detective Lester Ybarra |
| Maria J. Rockwell | … | Police Matron at Precinct (as Maria Rockwell) |
| Wendy Worthington | … | Reception Nurse |
| Riki Lindhome | … | Examination Nurse |
| Dawn Flood | … | Morning Nurse |
| Dale Dickey | … | Patient |
| Jason Butler Harner | … | Gordon Northcott |
| Eddie Alderson | … | Sanford Clark |
| Sterling Wolfe | … | Briegleb’s Aide |
| Michael McCafferty | … | Ticket Vendor (as Mike McCafferty) |
| Amy Ryan | … | Carol Dexter |
| David Goldman | … | Administrator |
| Denis O’Hare | … | Dr. Jonathan Steele |
| Anthony De Marco | … | Abducted Kid (as Anthony DeMarco) |
| Joshua Logan Moore | … | Abducted Kid (as Joshua Moore) |
| Joe Kaprielian | … | Abducted Kid |
| Muriel Minot | … | Secretary |
| Kevin Glikmann | … | Male Orderly |
| Drew Richards | … | Holding Officer |
| Hope Shapiro | … | Medication Nurse |
| Caleb Campbell | … | Backup Detective |
| Jeff Cockey | … | Backup Detective |
| Zach Mills | … | News Vendor |
| Kelly Lynn Warren | … | Rachel Clark |
| Colby French | … | Bob Clark |
| Scott Leva | … | Mountie |
| Richard King | … | Mountie (as Rich King) |
| Clint Ward | … | Mountie |
| Geoff Pierson | … | S.S. Hahn |
| Reed Birney | … | Mayor Cryer |
| Michael Dempsey | … | Man on Street |
| Peter Breitmayer | … | Chairman Thorpe |
| Phil Van Tee | … | Councilman |
| Jim Nieb | … | Reporter at Hearing |
| Lily Knight | … | Mrs. Leanne Clay |
| Jeffrey Hutchinson | … | Mr. Clay |
| Brian Prescott | … | Courtroom Bailiff |
| Ryan Cutrona | … | Judge |
| Mary Stein | … | Janet Hutchins |
| Gregg Binkley | … | Jury Foreman |
| William Charlton | … | Prison Guard |
| Cooper Thornton | … | Prison Guard (as Cooper Thorton) |
| E.J. Callahan | … | Warden |
| Asher Axe | … | David Clay |
| Devon Gearhart | … | Winslow Boy |
| Dalton Stumbo | … | Winslow Boy |
| Austin Mensch | … | Boy in Coop |
| Andre Alexsen | … | La City Councilman |
| Julie Berlin | … | Switchboard Operator |
| Denise Bradley | … | Church Member |
| William Brent | … | Screaming Boy (voice) |
| Pete Brown | … | Walter’s Train Escort |
| Gary Buckner | … | Prison Executioner |
| Jason Ciok | … | Interviewer |
| Danton Dabar | … | Prison Guard #3 |
| Doby Daenger | … | Councilman’s Wife |
| Jessica Irvine Drake | … | Female Protester |
| John R. Duncan | … | Councilman |
| Dominick Dunne | … | Man on Jury |
| Michael Grubb | … | Courtroom Attendee |
| Leslie Gunning | … | Train Passenger |
| Richard Hansen | … | Reporter |
| Kerry Hennessy | … | Church Member / Protestor / Witness |
| Bruce Holman | … | Execution Observer |
| Lauren Ingmire | … | Classroom Kid |
| Christopher Karl Johnson | … | Protester / Man on Corner with Newspaper Smoking |
| Kitty Kreidler | … | Women’s Temperence Worker |
| Suzanne LaChasse | … | Operator |
| Jonathan Lane | … | Hospital Visitor |
| Kimberly Langley | … | Protestor |
| Michela Lansing | … | Protester |
| Jen Lilley | … | Switchboard Operator |
| Michael Lovern | … | Train Passenger |
| Darin Mangan | … | Witness |
| Lauren Suzanne Martin | … | Protester |
Sources: imdb & wikipedia