STILL MISSING

By Scott Essman

Not to be confused with the 1980 George C. Scott vehicle in the somewhat unfairly overlooked chilling child's ghost story THE CHANGELING, Clint Eastwood's latest turn as director in his recent string of potent dramas, CHANGELING, grips you by the throat from the outset and never lets go until the end credits nearly 140 minutes onward. Another in the new millennium's line of upsetting missing child films (Eastwood's own MYSTIC RIVER and Ben Affleck's GONE BABY GONE), Eastwood's film is unique in that it is set in a 1928-1935 Los Angeles that is often overlooked in period films which typically focus on the Great Depression. And, not only does CHANGELING paint a disturbing portrait of the nature of a single mother's treatment at the hands of authorities in a high-profile case, it also presents an LA so wrought with corruption at every level, it makes other LA period films such as LA CONFIDENTIAL and CHINATOWN seem relatively tame.

With Angelina Jolie coming off of a recent string of great performances in films including THE GOOD SHEPHERD and A MIGHTY HEART, Eastwood had himself an ideal lead in that she could carry nearly every frame of the film. Jolie easily slides into the part of a decent working mother whose career is on the rise in a solidly man's world who doubles as a single mother with a child who has never met his father. When the dreaded boy's disappearance finally takes place, we expect a typical search film with a potentially happy ending, much like the superb Kate Nelligan-starring WITHOUT A TRACE (1983), which features a likeable righteous character on the mother's side in the person of Judd Hirsch (Jolie has an outspoken reverend played by John Malkovich working in her favor).

However, unlike the former film, the mother in question in CHANGELING is scrutinized by authorities who conspire to bury her case in light of the Los Angeles Police Department's very poor recent public image. Dogmatically, in the time before women's rights, Jolie's Christine Collins is turned from victim into enemy of the state and endures all manner of prosecution by a wholly corrupt body of authority, from child services workers and hospital psychologists, to police chiefs and underlings, right up to the city mayor.

In each succeeding scene, Jolie's plight is maddeningly frustrating, unconscionable, and torturous as we become her and feel her pain twofold: not only is the system working against her in every way possible, but also, her missing boy is still out there and nobody is bothering to locate him as the entire case is dusted under the rug in a clever manner by those in power. As if all that weren't enough, an engrossing subplot regarding a suspect in a string of child abductions creates further Eastwood intricacies regarding clues to the central mystery and the moral nature of capital punishment.

Who would have thought that the erstwhile right-wing Eastwood would fearlessly expose an establishment and system of justice as flawed as one would think possible? Coupled with the pseudo anti-Americanism in his unexpectedly superior LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA, Eastwood is transforming himself from the shoot-first figures of his early starring vehicles into a director taking the care to show many sides of serious issues.

Oddly enough, CHANGELING featured a preview for an upcoming Eastwood starrer, GRAN TORINO, in which he seems to be playing the septuagenarian version of "Dirty" Harry Callahan who is mercilessly thwarting Asian gang members against helpless innocents. Perhaps the 78-year old hyphenate must get such work off of his chest in front of the camera so that he can continue to make provocative fare behind it. Whatever the reason, audiences are better off for his slate of directorial films this decade and hopefully well beyond as there is seemingly no subject for Eastwood that is off limits.

KEVIN SMITH DOESN'T MAKE A PORNO
By Scott Essman

For students of Kevin Smith's eight-film career, the most intriguing thing about a movie which features the word "porno" in its title is how uncharacteristically tame his newest film positions itself with regards to pornographic material.  Certainly, we see some manners of bodily fluids and by-products in the proceedings, and there are instances of full frontal nudity, but ultimately Smith has made a film that, at its core, is a touching love story.

And, with its appealing leads, ripped straight from the pages of a Judd Apatow script, Smith's newest film might even be - unbelievably so - his most mainstream, with apologies to the underrated JERSEY GIRL.  If not for that - ooo, awful - word in its title, Smith's charming, hilarious, and warm-hearted movie might reach out to date night audiences with its tale about destined lovers who come together under the most unusual circumstances.

One wonders why Smith, whose career has been based on unabashed approaches to such subjects as slackers, lesbians, religion, etc., decided to make a movie about disparate roommates being forced (albeit somewhat voluntarily) to make a pornographic film but hold back from going as all-out as in his earlier efforts.  But much like the superb BOOGIE NIGHTS outing by character-driven Paul Thomas Anderson, ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO is really less about pornography and more about its appealing leads.

Without question, the strength of ZACK AND MIRI lies in its titular characters, including the Apatow vet Seth Rogen as Zack and the always endearing Elizabeth Banks as Miri.  These two exude enough onscreen chemistry for multiple movies and more than many of their ilk put together.  Who knew that this film would feature one of the more compelling love stories in recent memory?  Rogen is always smart and funny, and Banks, who has made a career as the picturesque girl next door (again in the recent W), does even more with her body language and facial expressions than with Smith's dynamic words.

In fact, Smith fans should not beware, as ZACK AND MIRI contains many familiar Smith plot elements, turns of phrase, and themes, not to mention the requisite appearance of Jason Mewes in a key role.  In many ways, this film is another in Smith's formidable canon of low-budget indie experiments, and fans of his personal twist on raunch will not be displeased.

However, for those who would be turned off by the inclusion of the word "porno" in this film's title should take notice: this is NOT a pornographic film and, while raw around the edges, ZACK AND MIRI should not be judged on that basis alone lest one forego a film whose most tender moments stay with you long after any memories of lewd imagery.

As one of the preeminent filmmakers to come out of the indie explosion of the early 1990s, which also brought forth such innovative directors as Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, and Richard Linklater to name but a few, Smith is clearly developing not only as a storyteller but as an overall auteur.  While it might be easy to dismiss a film about pornography - even one that is not pornographic - in doing so, one will be missing the work of a maturing director whose best moments continually seem to be in front of him.

Scott Essman
VISIONARY MEDIA
scottessman@yahoo.com
P.O. Box 1722
Glendora, CA 91740
Ph 1 (626) 963-0635
FX 1 (626) 608-0309

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