good

"Changeling announces itself as an autopsy of an expansive body of lies that it never actually performs, and as such the surprisingly graceless and phony aesthetic is what lingers most." - Ed Gonzalez

Changeling isn't just a mess of manipulative attitudes like a Spike Lee film, above all, it's an extremely unpleasant experience.

Good acting. (Jolie is good, Harner is very good.) It felt a bit like a documentary, though. A kid goes missing, he is returned, but the mother says that it's not her child. This is the real event the movie is based on. When you think about it, it's not all that interesting. It's just about some sloppy police work and what happens after it. It is a great success that the filmmakers were able to develop it into a suspenseful drama, which nevertheless leaves you asking 'So what?'

Genuinely interesting real life story made somewhat plodding and overlong, surprising since unlike most true stories it arcs well and has a clear beginning and end. The focus on the mother seems to be done partially done to give Jolie the chance to do some ACTING! The atmosphere is a bit too quaint, deliberate, and typical of a period piece. Still it's a story worth telling, especially since if it wasn't real, the script would be derided as being unbelievable.