Changeling

(USA, 2008, 140 minutes)

In 1928 Los Angeles, a single mom's young son disappears; months later, when the police finds him, she realises it's a different boy and starts fighting for the truth when the police refuses to investigate further and tries to discredit her. A forgotten true story is made into a handsomely old-fashioned and impeccably presented but rather sprawling and quite overlong prestige drama that keeps flitting between problem picture, star vehicle, police procedural and courtroom drama without ever choosing which one it prefers to be.

Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment present, in association with Relativity Media, a Malpaso production. Starring Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Jeffrey Donovan, Michael Kelly, Colm Feore, Jason Butler Harner, Amy Ryan, Geoff Pierson, Denis O'Hare, Frank Wood. Directed by Clint Eastwood; produced by Clint Eastwood, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Robert Lorenz; written by J. Michael Straczynski; music by Clint Eastwood; director of photography (Technicolor, Panavision), Tom Stern; production designer, James J. Murakami; costume designer, Deborah Hopper; film editors, Joel Cox, Gary D. Roach.