TO FIND HER SON, SHE DID WHAT NO ONE ELSE DARED.
Los Angeles, 1928; Christine Collins’s (Angelina Jolie) nine-year-old son disappears, but when the police claim to have found him it turns out to be a different boy… and the cops want her to accept him as her own. This film was based on an amazing real-life story about widespread corruption within the LAPD and how a very nasty serial killer was brought to justice; director Clint Eastwood and his team stay reasonably close to the truth and tell the story in a straightforward fashion without embellishment. A shocking, engaging experience, although the last hour loses some of its steam. Benefits from its terrific cast and the sun-drenched, faded cinematography.
2008-U.S. 141 min. Color. Widescreen. Produced byĀ Clint Eastwood, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Robert Lorenz. Direction, Music: Clint Eastwood. Screenplay: J. Michael Straczynski.Ā Cinematography: Tom Stern. Cast: Angelina Jolie (Christine Collins), John Malkovich (Gustav Briegleb), Jeffrey Donovan (J.J. Jones), Michael Kelly, Colm Feore, Jason Butler Harner… Amy Ryan.
Trivia: Hilary Swank and Reese Witherspoon were allegedly considered for the part of Christine. Howard planned to direct the film, but a scheduling conflict caused him to look for a replacement.
Last word: “When I was first given this script, I was told that Angelina had read this and liked it, so I told Brian Grazer that I didnāt see any reason to look further. I liked her very much, I liked her as an actress and she is a mother and a famous mother now, but I figured that she would just know all the proper things about this character. And the others were cast the same way.Ā I do a lot of casting by videotape of people coming in and reading scenes and what have you, because Iāve been turned down for so many parts over the years in my early career. I hated to be like one of those guys sitting there smoking a cigar and blowing smoke in the actorsā faces as they came in to read.” (Eastwood, indieLondon)
