Metacritic Movie Ratings
Changeling Reviews

A sample of reviews from critics across the country.

• 100

  out of 100

  VarietyTodd McCarthy

  Emotionally powerful and stylistically sure-handed, this true story-inspired drama begins small with the disappearance of a young boy, only to gradually fan out to become a comprehensive critique of the entire power structure of Los Angeles, circa 1928.

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• 90

  out of 100

  The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt

  In Changeling Eastwood continues to probe uncomfortable subjects to depict the individual and even existential struggle to do what is right.

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• 88

  out of 100

  Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert

  Jolie, Malkovich and Geoff Pierson, as a lawyer who takes Collins' case before the Police Board, are very good at what they do very well. The film's most riveting performance is by Jason Butler Harner as the murderous Gordon Northcott.

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• 80

  out of 100

  Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan

  In other hands, these clashes of good and evil might have seemed ordinary, but Eastwood makes Changeling a hard story to shake off. To see this film is to understand both how fragile and how essential our hopes for decency and truth are in a world that must be made to care about either one.

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• 63

  out of 100

  USA TodayClaudia Puig

  While the neo-Gothic tale is inherently intriguing, the film should inspire strong emotion, but deliberate pacing and a contained sense of melodrama make it a surprisingly passive experience.

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• 50

  out of 100

  The New York TimesA.O. Scott

  The truth about the case of Christine Collins is so shocking and dramatic that embellishment must have seemed pointless, but in sticking so close to the historical record, Mr. Straczynski and Mr. Eastwood have produced a distended, awkward narrative whose strongest themes are lost in the murky pomp of period detail.

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• 50

  out of 100

  Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman

  The trouble with Changeling is that it plays less like reality than like a bare-bones, moralistic rehash of other, better movies, such as "L.A. Confidential" or "Frances."

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• 30

  out of 100

  Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern

  J. Michael Straczynski's disjointed script manages to ring false at almost every significant turn (Collins' psychiatric-hospital stay has grown into a latter-day version of "The Snake Pit") and Clint Eastwood's ponderous direction -- a disheartening departure from his sure touch in "Letters From Iwo Jima" and "The Bridges of Madison County" -- magnifies the flaws.

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See all Changeling movie reviews at Metacritic.com