Clint
Eastwood’s getting his actors in line for The Changeling, the movie he’s
making that isn’t a remake of the fun George C. Scott ghost flick from the 1980.
(And not to be confused with Changeling sans the definite
article, a film whose titular status will probably live up to its original
title, which won’t be the original title after the lawyers get it…and I feel
like I narrowly avoided talking into a title-paradox loop there.)
Jolie is already signed to not be George C. Scott, and now
Malkovich have come aboard. The casting choices are solid, but not exactly coups; does it takes anything but a phone call and couple
of free weeks to decide to work for Eastwood? Jason Butler Harner will appear
as well, as well Amy Ryan and Michael Kelly.
them’s TV people; besides getting Carol Anne excited, Donovan is on Burn Notice and Harner is in the
upcoming John Adams mini-series.
film’s plot, based on real-life events (we no longer say ‘based on a true story’
because ‘real-life events’ sounds so much more credible) is more complex than
rewriting can do justice, so here’s how The Hollywood Reporter calls it:
The story follows a woman (Jolie) whose son goes missing in 1920s Los Angeles.
The police return the wrong child and the woman is thrown into an insane asylum
for disagreeing with the LAPD. When it seems that her real son has been
murdered by a child serial killer and the child returned admits to fraud, she
takes her case to the city council and takes down the mayor, the police chief
and several corrupt officers, concurrently sparking changes in the insanity
legislation.
I’m
actually fairly excited for this film, more than I was for Clint’s recent WWII
double-hit. It’s a wild story, the period is great for Clint and I can’t wait
to see what he does with Jolie. I haven’t read Strazynski’s script, but I hope
that, if Clint uses it as-is, his naturalistic style can edge around J.M.S.’s
trademark clunky dialogue.