Changeling (2008)

Based on the true story of a single mother who is reunited with her formerly missing son, only to discover that he isn't actually her son, this story has all the drama you need in its arsenal. And if that wasn't enough, it stars Angelina Jolie as the mother, Christine Collins, John Malkovich as Rev. Gustav Briegleb, the man who tries to help Christine in her quest to be heard, and it's directed by Oscar-winning-director Clint Eastwood.

It was all actually a bit too much.

With the exception of Jeffrey Donovan's accent sliding, every performance in it was excellent. You can tell Jolie is a mother in real life, as she passionately searches for answers. Malkovich appears near-mad in his dedication. An almost unrecognizable Amy Ryan is absolutely gritty as a representative resident of a mental institution. Even the children in the film all do an almost horrifyingly great job.

But there is so much drama and heartache that at times it seems too fantastic to be true. So many special circumstances come into play and there's no reprieve from the constant struggle. It's almost tiring to watch. Then add on the fact that there's so many events included that the movie is just too long. It has a very natural-feeling ending about half an hour before it finally does end - and to think the original cut was fifty minutes longer.

When you're doing a true story, the bar for attention to detail is higher, but here so many details get lost. Anachronisms and continuity errors abound. Someone made the decision to include references to Amos 'n' Andy, The Mysterious Airman, and a broadcast of the Oscars, but no one checked to see if they accurately worked within this movie's strict timeline. There were also issues with future technology and inappropriate terminology and slang. At one point a prominently used hatch on a door simply disappears. And of course there are plenty of your average papers moving around on desks in between shots.

Perhaps it's Eastwood's swift, economical directing style coming in to play, but it just feels like the attention was so focused on the drama that everything else fell to the side. It's too bad because there's a fantastic, interesting, highly emotional movie in there somewhere.

Rating: 3/5
Recommended for: People who'd like to see a softer Angelina Jolie

Burn After Reading (2008)

Burn After Reading has two things you'd expect from a Coen brothers movie: dark humor and Frances McDormand. The fault lies in the marketing as to how laugh out loud funny this movie is. The trailers, the commercials - both portray it as the most uproariously funny thing you'd see in 2008. It is not. What we're looking at is dark - very dark.

Two gym employees, Linda (Frances McDormand) and Chad (Brad Pitt), find the memoirs of a recently laid off fed agent (John Malkovich) on a cd in the locker room. They mistake this for top secret information and set to sell it back to its owner. The disc actually belonged to the agent's wife (Tilda Swinton), who was trying to find info about him for their upcoming divorce.

What follows is generally people acting horribly to each other and lots of patented Malkovich yelling. When physical violence erupts it is intense - also a Coen trademark. Richard Jenkins steals a bit of the limelight as Linda and Chad's powerless boss Ted while J. K. Simmons brings a little straight-laced humor in his brief scenes as an agency superior. And if anyone is actually goofy funny, it's Brad Pitt who brings a much needed lightness to the story. Still, overall not much of a comedy.

Rating: 3/5
Recommended for: Adults who'd watch anything that has the Coen brothers' name on it.