FINAL Picks - 81st Academy Awards

Regrettably there are still a few films that I did not get the pleasure of seeing which includes all of the Nominees in the short categories as well as "Man on Wire" being the only Documentary I saw and "Waltz with Bashir" being the only Foreign film. I also missed "Rachel Getting Married", "Happy-Go-Lucky" and "In Bruges". Not to bad actually considering the high number of films in each of the 24 categories but still, the fact remains it seems absurd to make predictions and judgments on a piece of art that you never even watched. Keep in mind, I seek out each nominated film and TRY to see every single one of them. I'm not so sure I can say the same thing about the Academy voters thus rendering skewed ballots based on hear say and the Hollywood Hype Machine. Based on that I will offer a "Will Win", which is my predicted winner, and a "Should Win" category. Obviously the "Should Win" would be who would get my vote if I had the privilege of doing so.

BEST PICTURE
Will Win - "Slumdog Millionaire"
Should Win - "Slumdog Millionaire"

Pretty much a lock at this point.

DIRECTING
Will Win - Danny Boyle - "Slumdog Millionaire"
Should Win - Danny Boyle - "Slumdog Millionaire"

Definitely a lock at this point.

LEADING ACTOR
Will Win - Mickey Rourke - "The Wrestler"
Should Win - Mickey Rourke - "The Wrestler"

This is a close race... it seriously could go either way but based on the fact that Sean Penn just won a statue in 2003 for "Mystic River" makes it pretty unlikely that he'll win again so quickly. The flip side is the great performances of Biopic films are almost always rewarded. Just ask Joaquin Phoenix (Johnny Cash), Reese Witherspoon (June Carter), Jamie Foxx (Ray Charles), Cate Blanchett (Katherine Hepburn), Forest Whitaker (Idi Amin) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (Truman Capote). I think you see my point.

LEADING ACTRESS
Will Win - Kate Winslet - "The Reader"
Should Win - Melissa Leo - "Frozen River"

Kate Winslet is 0-5 and she is consistently great thus making it unlikely she will be overlooked again. Melissa Leo is the very deserving Darkhorse and let's not forget that the great Meryl Streep is lurking in the shadows and could easily steal this award from both of the aforementioned ladies. I do think anyone but Winslet is a longshot though.

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Will Win - Heath Ledger - "The Dark Knight"
Should Win - "Heath Ledger - "The Dark Knight"

This might be the biggest lock in the history of the Academy Awards AND rightfully so. Could you imagine what would happen if anyone else won? Or better yet, could you imagine being the Actor that did win having to go and accept this award in front of a furious and hostile crowd. Luckily nobody will have to endure that. Heath wins and the place is going to erupt with emotion when he does.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Will Win - Penelope Cruz - "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
Should Win - Marisa Tomei - "The Wrestler"

This is really a tough call actually. It appears that most people expect Cruz to win but this category is well known for it's surprises. My heart is pulling for Marisa Tomei to get recognized for her brave work in "The Wrestler" but if anyone is going to be the Penelope buster I expect it to be Viola Davis from "Doubt". Don't get me wrong, Cruz stole every scene she was in and I thought she was amazing but my vote would have gone to Tomei. This is a great race yet again this year.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Will Win - "Slumdog Millionaire"
Should Win - "Slumdog Millionaire"

Another lock of the evening.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Will Win - "Milk"
Should Win - "Milk"

Many pundits are predicting a "Milk" victory but claiming it is undeserving and sort of a color-by-number structured screenplay while "Wall-E" is the true best original screenplay of the year. I'm not so sure I agree. Besides, "Wall-E" is a lock for a statue with the Animated Feature and "Milk" can't go home empty handed, can it? I say no.

ANIMATED FEATURE
Will Win - "Wall-E"
Should Win - "Wall-E"

Stone cold lock.

ART DIRECTION
Will Win - "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Should Win - "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

With 13 nominations in total "Benjamin Button" very well may get a the 0-13 snub but I think it will get rewarded here. It's a tough category being in with "The Dark Knight" and "The Duchess" but I think it will prevail.

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Will Win - "Slumdog Millionaire"
Should Win - "The Dark Knight"

"Slumdog" is going to win this prize but "The Dark Knight" was so visually stunning I would love to see it sneak in for the win.

VISUAL EFFECTS
Will Win - "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Should Win - "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

With the innovative visuals of Brad Pitt aging backwards it's very deserving of this award and most experts believe it will take it although "The Dark Knight" is also getting a lot of love.

FILM EDITING
Will Win - "Slumdog Millionaire"
Should Win - "Slumdog Millionaire"

Looking more and more like another lock for "Slumdog Millionaire" with "Benjamin Button" a distant second.

MAKEUP
Will Win - "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Should Win - "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Anytime you can capture the aging process on film and pull it off masterfully then you deserve the recognition for it. Brad Pitt gets younger while Cate Blanchett and everyone else ages. It's just awesome work.

COSTUME DESIGN
Will Win - "The Duchess"
Should Win - "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Elizabethan period pieces always seem to win this category and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" covers so many years that I think it probably deserves the nod. I doubt it will get it though.

FOREIGN FILM
Will Win - "Departures"
Should Win - "Waltz with Bashir"

All the experts seem to think "Waltz with Bashir" is the front-runner but the buzz around the industry is very strong for "The Class" and more recently it sounds like "Departures" could slide in for the upset. I've only see "Waltz" so I can't really go of anything more than all the buzz and reading I've done on the category. (UPDATE: It's 1:40 pm on Saturday the 21st and I'm officially going out on a limb and selecting "Departures" for the upset win. This coming after I just discovered that this is one category that each voter MUST PROVE that they seen each of the nominees. Based on that it sounds like the buzz for "Departures" is very very good. It's still a reach but what the hell, you have to take chances to win these things and I can guarantee that there will be surprises come tomorrow night. That much is a certainty.)

DOCUMENTARY
Will Win - "Man on Wire"
Should Win - "Man on Wire"

Again, this is the only film in the category I actually saw but according to the pundits the only chance at upset is "Trouble the Water".

SOUND EDITING
Will Win - "The Dark Knight"
Should Win - "The Dark Knight"

Historically speaking this award goes to the loudest film and "The Dark Knight" is just that but the fear here is if "Slumdog Millionaire" is so well loved that it gets the sweep thus stealing the sound categories from "The Dark Knight". I wouldn't be shocked if either wins but I'll stick with the "loudest movie of the year" theory as well as they have to reward this blockbuster in some way other than Heath Ledger. The film deserves 3 or 4 statues.

SOUND MIXING
Will Win - "The Dark Knight"
Should Win - "The Dark Knight"

See above. Usually the same film wins both categories.

ORIGINAL SCORE
Will Win - "Slumdog Millionaire"
Should Win - "Slumdog Millionaire"

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" poses a real threat I think based on the numerous arrangements throughout. It sounds great but then again, so did "Slumdog Millionaire" and it just seems to resonate more for me.

ORIGINAL SONG
Will Win - "Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire"
Should Win - "Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire"

It's the only song that sticks with you, in fact, it's hard to shake. That has to count for something. Besides, the experts all say it's going to win so who am I to argue?

DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Will Win - "The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306"
Should Win - ?

Seems to be the one getting most of the attention but this category is truly up for grabs with "The Conscience of Nhem En" and "Smile Pinki" also getting a lot of praise.

ANIMATED SHORT
Will Win - "Presto"
Should Win- ?

Made by Pixar, if that even matters, but it seems to be getting the love more than the rest.

LIVE ACTION SHORT
Will Win - "Toyland"
Should Win - ?

Only "The Pig" stands in the way here according to the hype.

Nomination Results

As expected there were some misses, some with validity, others not so much...

Best Picture (4 out of 5)
I'm not surprised in the least that "The Dark Knight" didn't get a nom here hence my listing it 5th, the fact that "The Reader" was the film to take it's place is absolutely mind boggling! "The Wrestler" got screwed, period. Mark my words, "The Wrestler" will go down in history as an amazing piece of cinema in every aspect while "The Reader" will fall into relative obscurity.

Director (4 out of 5)
Dammit if "The Reader" didn't just come in and screw over "The Dark Knight" yet again AND "The Wrestler". This just pisses me off and once again proves that the Academy is nothing more than 6,000 elderly prudes that just don't get it. Christopher Nolan did an amazing job with "The Dark Knight" and it's visually stunning. Darren Aronofsky's work on "The Wrestler" is simply heartbreaking, yet beautiful.

Actor (4 out of 5)
Not a surprise Richard Jenkins gets the nom, he deserved it. I just left him off expecting Brad Pitt to get one for the huge hype that was surrounding "Benjamin Button" thus leaving Clint Eastwood off the list, which I did find surprising.

Actress (3 out of 5)
No argument with Angelina Jolie, deservedly so, taking the place of my last 5th selection, Sally Hawkins. The real shocker comes with, not the selection of Kate Winslet, but being nominated for "The Reader" as opposed to "Revolutionary Road." Talk about monkey wrench! "The Reader" was a supporting role, or so I thought hence my predicting here to get a nom in THAT category. That sucks since I had Winslet chalked up for a Lead nom here but for the other film, so I can't count it as a correct prediction, because it wasn't. Hmmm... what the hell do I know?

Supporting Actor (4 out of 5)
Really not a shocker here, Michael Shannon was steam rolling his way to a nomination but I just thought Dev Patel and James Franco were more deserving, personally.

Supporting Actress (4 out of 5)
Well, obviously the monkey wrench that is Kate Winslet screwed me here thus thrusting my alternate selection of Amy Adams for "Doubt" into the mix.

Original Screenplay (2 out of 5)
I was bound to butcher one category and here it is with only "Milk" and "Wall-E" collecting nominations. I did at least get "Happy-Go-Lucky" as an alternate selection somewhat easing the sting. "In Bruges" and "Frozen River" were excellent films and deserve the recognition but I really just like "The Wrestler" and "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" better.

Adapted Screenplay (4 out of 5)
Once again "The Reader" sneaks in thus knocking "The Dark Knight" to the curb. And once again, I do not agree.

The final tally is a pretty embarrassing 29 out of 40, my worst in all my years. I do think that is a good sign though, actually who am I kidding... those taking home the Statuette on Sunday, February 22nd are already etched in stone, right? I'll post my final predictions in every category very soon!

Final Oscar Nomination Predictions

As is the case every year, I'm bound to have a few wrong but I don't have a clue where they could be. A couple of the deserving darkhorse's are sure to hit but outside of that the only possibilities of a surprising nomination that I can envision are Happy-Go-Lucky for Original Screenplay or Cate Blanchett for Actress, simply because she is so beloved by the Academy. I'm sticking to my guns though and my Nomination predictions are in order from strongest to weakest with the darkhorse taking the place of the fifth listed Nomination should it win.

Picture
Slumdog Millionaire
Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Milk
Frost/Nixon
The Dark Knight

Deserving Darkhorse:
The Wrestler

Director
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
David Fincher - Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Gus Van Sant - Milk
Christopher Nolan - The Dark Knight
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon

Deserving Darkhorse:
Darren Aronofsky - The Wrestler

Actor
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler
Sean Penn - Milk
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Clint Eastwood - Gran Torino
Brad Pitt - Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Deserving Darkhorse:
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor

Actress
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kate Winslet - Revolutionary Road
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Sally Hawkins - Happy-Go-Lucky

Deserving Darkhorse:
Angelina Jolie - Changeling

Supporting Actor
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey, Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Dev Patel - Slumdog Millionaire

Deserving Darkhorse:
James Franco - Milk

Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Kate Winslet - The Reader
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler
Taraji P. Henson - Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Viola Davis - Doubt

Deserving Darkhorse:
Amy Adams - Doubt

Original Screenplay
Dustin Lance Black - Milk
Robert D. Siegel - The Wrestler
Andrew Stanton and Jim Reardon - WALL - E
Woody Allen - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Jenny Lumet - Rachel Getting Married

Deserving Darkhorse:
Mike Leigh - Happy-Go-Lucky

Adapted Screenplay
Simon Beaufoy - Slumdog Millionaire
Eric Roth - Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Peter Morgan - Frost/Nixon
John Patrick Shanley - Doubt
Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan - The Dark Knight

Deserving Darkhorse:
Justin Haythe - Revolutionary Road

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (***1/2)

Woody Allen makes me laugh. I mean that sincerely, I found myself shaking my head with laughter throughout this film silently saying to myself, "Woody Allen". It's not funny in the hunched over belly-aching-lose-your-mind kind of way, it's more the uncomfortable-I-don't-know-what-the-hell-to-do-but-laugh way. Either way, it was a great time and just when you think Woody is just amusing himself you come to find out that there is a much deeper ironic twist that leaves your mouth agape yet somehow still completely satisfied. Dare I say there's a method to his madness. Woody Allen the writer gives the film a nice snowballing effect that builds our feelings for each character as we discover their layers, almost on a scene to scene basis. Then Woody Allen the Director shoots the film in such a warm and fuzzy upbeat manner that he actually makes the most awkward encounters and peculiar circumstances appear as cozy as a night by the fire watching "It's a Wonderful Life" on the Lifetime Channel. There in lies the humor.

Allen's story in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" is simple enough superficially, and by design I might add. Two friends, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) decide to spend the summer in Barcelona. See what I mean? Of course, the subtext of the story really being self discovery. As pointed out by the films Narrator (voice of Christopher Evan Welch), although Vicky and Cristina are best of friends they do have vastly different perceptions of what love is and should be. Vicky, engaged to be married, is very structured, rational and seeks the traditional married life with security. Cristina is free-spirited, adventurous, impulsive, romantic and looking to be seductively swept away. Vicky knows exactly what she wants, Cristina hasn't a clue. On the night of their arrival, while enjoying an elegant evening drinking wine, a few glances are exchanged across the restaurant with Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), the artist they had seen earlier in the evening showing his works at an Art Gallery. Assuming a mutual interest the self assured Juan approaches their table mincing no words as he quickly expresses his attraction to each woman and subsequently invites them on a short plane ride to Oviedo for the weekend. He politely offers them the experience of sight seeing, fine wines, exquisite dining, oh yeah, and hopefully a threesome, which is says as if he were offering to take their order. After this exchange Vicky is repulsed and Cristina is intrigued. Cristina wins and Vicky reluctantly rides along as a source of company to her friend.

They spend the next day indulging in the wining, dining and sight seeing and as the end of the night arrives Juan again proposes a night cap with the ladies. Vicky, offended by his offering, declines and retires to her room while Cristina agrees to go to his room. Moments after things begin to get hot and heavy, Cristina becomes violently ill and rushes to the restroom to vomit. The next morning we learn that due to a reaction from her ulcer Cristina will be bed ridden for the day forcing Vicky and Juan to spend the day together sight seeing. As the hours pass and the two of them move from one venue to another, the romantic atmosphere and setting of each soon take it's toll on Vicky, as she now is beginning to grow fond of Juan. As her feelings grow the passion grows thus leading to a complicating cluster of emotions between the three of them that only grows as each day passes. Vicky is still scheduled to be married and her simpleton fiance, Doug (Chris Messina) moves plans ahead and decides to come to Barcelona and get married there for the aura of it all. Vicky gets married, Cristina and Juan move in together and all is well. If only it were that easy.

A little over an hour into the film we finally meet Juan's ex-wife, Marie Elena (Penélope Cruz), which he has been referring to a numerous occasions to this point, obviously feelings remain. Maria Elena and Juan share a deeply passionate relationship that teeters on love and hate, as evidenced by their crystal clear eternal love for one another sprinkled in with the fact that she stabbed him in one of their many verbal, and sometimes physical, feuds. Maria Elena is clearly unstable and a detriment to herself so Juan takes her into his home, now shared with Cristina, where he can help her pull herself back together. What follows is the differing dynamics between the three of them which inevitably leads to an open love triangle. Predictably, complications arise eventually causing friction between the three lovers leading to a parting of ways.

The beauty of the film comes via spoiler and I hate to do it, this is the very reason I refuse to read reviews prior to actually seeing the film for myself, but I'm doing it anyway. Consider yourself warned. The pieces have all been strategically and brilliantly put into place by Allen. The setting, the city, the timing, the dynamically different personalities, the circumstances and so on, nothing is missed and it all comes full circle so gracefully that your actually surprised after the fact of what you just witnessed. The structured Vicky knowing exactly what she wants in life discovers through her marriage that what she really wants is the free spirited life. The free spirited Cristina discovers through her openly sexual threesome that she can't live like that and realizes what she really seeks is the structure. What each thought they wanted was what the other had. The grass is always greener.

Allen does an amazing job and this script is very intelligent yet feels like another day in the life that you hardly realize it's intellectual prowess until it comes full circle in the closing moment and sinks in causing you to replay the entire movie in your head in fast forward to see it unfold mentally. The casting of the film is as equally important, if not more so, than the actual witty script and smooth direction. It took the dynamically different on screen personalities of each integral character to support and drive the story, you really find yourself caring for each character. A casting flaw could have proved to be a fatal flaw to the success or failure of the film. Penelope Cruz steals every scene she is in with a whirlwind performance, she may be beautiful and petite but she is an absolute powerhouse in every single scene as an emotional wreck and you can't take your eyes off her. It's also hilarious that at one point Scarlett Johansson's character, Cristina, feels as if she has no talent and nothing within her will ever inspire Juan like Maria Elena continually does. Sadly for Johansson, that couldn't ring more true and is quite obvious in her scenes with Cruz. In her defense, they were written as such and maybe Johansson is giving a strong performance being talentless but Cruz certainly makes her job that much easier.

Revolutionary Road (**1/2)

Sam Mendes, of "American Beauty" acclaim, tells this distressing story about a young couple's discontentment in their own individual lives causing the unraveling of their marriage in 1050's suburban Connecticut. The Wheeler couple is convinced by the local Real Estate agent (Kathy Bates) to move themselves and 2 young children, into the most beautiful perfect little house on Revolutionary Road. Despite it's proximity to the very suburbanite neighbors they feel far superior than they move in citing that it is far enough out as to make them feel they have distanced themselves from "those people". April Wheeler (Winslet) is having a difficult time coming to terms with her non-existent acting career. Frank Wheeler (DiCaprio) is dispassionate about his monotonous office job but keeps it because it's rather lucrative. Seeking some sense of excitement or adventure in their lives they each find themselves separately making morally questionable decisions which, unknowingly to each other, causes tension to mount at home.

In a nutshell, you have a very dysfunctional relationship within the walls of their own home that goes out of it's way to paint the picture of the perfect family to the rest of the world. As if moving into the fairytale little home will solve the deeper seeded problems between them. When that doesn't work, they impulsively agree to move to Paris where they share the same delusional fantasy of reinvigorating their inner artist and finding true love and happiness.

The film itself is getting critical praise and being highly touted as a certainty to firmly grab a Best Picture nomination but I don't see it as being that caliber. I may be wrong, I often am on these matters, it's just my opinion that this film is nowhere near the cinematic experience that "American Beauty" was. At the end of the day there are many things I can appreciate as this type of thing happens in the real world in far to many families but to sit and watch it for the 2 hour run time wasn't that pleasurable of an experience, frankly. It was difficult to watch, maybe it just hit home and I subconsciously resisted and have my own issues to deal with. I don't know.

That being said, DiCaprio was great as usual and Winslet was the consistent powerhouse she usually is and watching them work together in each scene made the movie tolerable for me. You absolutely cannot catch that woman "acting" in any scene. She takes on some pretty emotional material here and doesn't flinch. Part of the creepiness of her character is the bipolar way she moves from one scene to another. She makes April appear to be robotic, clearly some serious emotional instability that Winslet hammers home. DiCaprio gives Frank a supreme confidence exteriorly when the reality is he is jealous, afraid and insecure internally.

Milk (***)

The true life story of Harvey Milk is as moving as it is tragic. Gus Van Sant does a stellar job of taking us on this journey of one man's incredible plight for acceptance and change against seemingly insurmountable odds. As a biopic we know how the story ends with the tragic assasination of California's first openly gay elected official, San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) and Mayor George Moscone by San Francisco Supervisor Dan White (Josh Brolin). What we may not know is the obstacles he overcame to get there and how one man's courage to stand up for what he believed in created a movement that dynamically changed the perception for homosexuals in this country. On a relative scale, Harvey Milk has done and continues to do posthumously for homosexuals today that of which Martin Luther King, Jr. did and has done for African Americans. They were one in the same in that in the end they each paid the ultimate sacrifice for using a public platform to convey their message to inspire change, which is still being felt today. The possibility, and eventual likelihood, of same-sex marriage (California's widely controversial Proposition 8) and the now certainty of an African American President, with President elect Barack Obama taking office in January, were not possible without the efforts and sacrifices of Harvey Milk and MLK.

Is there anything Sean Penn cannot do? He's remarkable. He is so good that the label of being widely regarded as the "best actor of his generation" seems to be a grossly inadequate depiction of how talented he really is. Name another actor in his "generation" even worthy of being mentioned in the same breath, that's not a knock towards anyone else, it's deserving praise for Sean Penn. Go down his list of credits on IMDB and look at his body of work, he covers it all and you are undoubtedly convinced and moved with each performance. His work is remarkable, and according to co-star Josh Brolin in an interview with Charlie Rose, "his most admirable qualities are his humility and the fact that he is so unassuming."

The film opens in 1978 San Francisco with Milk sitting home alone speaking into a tape recorder regarding his fears of his own assassination. From there Van Sant takes you back to the free spirited Milk in 1970 with his lover Scott Smith (James Franco) pondering his current state of being and soul searching for what he wants out of life. He soon realizes that he wants to use politics as the forum to be the voice of homosexuals abroad and begins his first of four increasingly stronger campaigns to be elected to the Board of Supervisors for San Francisco. As each failed election passes his support continues to expand lead by his small team of young activists of Smith (Franco), Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch), Anne Kronenberg (Alison Pil) and later Jack Lira (Diego Luna). In 1977 his persistence and ever increasing determination finally pays dividends as he wins the election.

Support continues to grow for Milk as he begins to plunge deeper and deeper into politics and the government with his political activism towards the rights of homosexuals. He is more than one man, his voice speaks for the entire homosexual community. Along the way friction mounts with Dan White (Brolin), who has befriended Milk in an effort to earn his vote. When Milk decides that he cannot vote with White as it would contradict his own political stance White grows increasingly agitated and unstable. Tension mounts and Milk's credentials and newly earned respect sways Mayor Moscone's decision to have White removed from office thus resulting in the nation jolting news that San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone have been assassinated by disgruntled Supervisor Dan White.

I am not a huge fan of biopic films per say, I enjoy them and always learn things I previously did not know from them but it's the retelling of a story that has already been told and although that is an art within itself I am not as drawn to them as I am to the figment of ones imagination being brought to life from scratch by the writing of it and the performances created. It's the old argument of what's more impressive, Sean Penn becoming Harvey Milk through hours of studying the real life man's every documented move or Penn's creating from scratch the multi layered vigilante Jimmy Markum in "Mystic River"? Maybe they're equal, maybe one's better than the other, I just know as uncanny as he was as Milk, my personal taste prefers the creation of Jimmy Markum, a fictional character completely created by his imagination and acting choices. At any rate, as far as biopic films go you will be hard pressed to find a more well done and more complete film than "Milk".

Changeling (**1/2)

Structurally Clint Eastwood's "Changeling" is 2 hours and 20 minutes of an air tight, unwavering film with strong performances and made with the same authentic stylistic accuracy we've grown accustomed to seeing with Eastwood. My lukewarm rating of this film has less to do with the fundamentals than it has to do with how I felt while watching it. Let's make no bones about it, this film is disturbing and the creepy factor is off the charts. The very definition of the title alone gives me the heebie jeebie's. Changeling, as defined by Webster's Dictionary, a child surreptitiously or unintentionally substituted for another. Now you throw in the plot elements which include child abduction, police corruption, morbid Psychiatric Doctors, delusion, serial axe murders, of children no less, a hanging and electric shock therapy. All shot film noir-esque, like an Alfred Hitchcock horror film, with Eastwood's very own eerie score to aid the creep factor. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention it's a true story! Writing this review is even disturbing, Clint Eastwood and Universal Pictures will be getting my therapy bills.

Deep breath. Exhale.

Screenwriter, J. Michael Straczynski's script starts out in Los Angeles, CA in March, 1928. We see a middle class working mother, Christine Collins, played by Angelina Jolie in another role that very well may earn her another Oscar nomination, kiss her 9 year old son Walter goodbye as she heads off to work. Upon her return she soon discovers that Walter is nowhere to be found prompting her to file an abduction report with the LAPD. She searches rigorously on her own as she lacks confidence in the LAPD, which has been under public scrutiny for corruption and poor performance. After about 6 months a boy is discovered in DeKalb, Illinois and believed to be Walter and confirmed by the LAPD and it's team of experts that it is, in fact, the Collins boy. The highly anticipated reunion between mother and son quickly turns as Christine instantly realizes that this is not her son despite the assurance from the LAPD, who is clearly trying to make themselves look like heroes, and even the young boy himself seeking love assumes the role as Walter Collins. She reluctantly takes the boy home with her but after numerous things are discovered such as a 3" inch height difference, among other things she begins to push the issue with the LAPD to their utmost disliking, especially considering their public reputation.

As Christine continues to push the envelope with the LAPD they realize they need her to disappear so they throw her in a Psychiatric Hospital to keep her secluded and sedated from the outside world. A local Preacher Rev. Gustav Briegleb, a fiery John Malkovich, takes his message and her story to the airwaves via a local radio station run out of his church in hopes to force the LAPD into revealing her whereabout and anything else they may know.

In the meantime, a terrified boy surfaces and is interrogated by an honest detective, Lester Ybarra (Michael Kelly) and reveals that he has fled the scene of a small ranch outside Winesville, California where he was held against his will and forced to serve as the right hand man of a serial child murderer, Gordon Northcott, creepily played by Jason Butler Harner. Ybarra immediately checks the boys story and and unravels the mystery and unsettling story of what really happened to Walter Collins.