Changeling

3.5 out of 5 Stars
I was very impressed with Clint Eastwood's direction, particularly after the boredom I experienced in 'Million Dollar Baby' (though I liked 'Mystic River'). I was not overly eager to watch another almost three hour Eastwood directed epic, but I really respected Eastwood's cinematography and attention to detail when it came to depicting Los Angeles in the late 20s and early 30s. (my only small nit-picky issue was that nobody in the film smoked cigarettes). Angelina Jolie gave another fantastic performance -- her facial expressions, her reactions, her emotions -- gave Christine Collins depth and a heart wrenching sense of honesty, tragedy and emotion. Still, I couldn't help thinking that Eastwood intentionally made this film with the Oscars in mind -- he even threw in an unnecessary scene at the end involving Christine Collins's pick for an Oscar winning film.