--- title: "Changeling: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/changeling/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/changeling" critics_score: 72 critics_reviews: 16 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Changeling (2008): what the critics said Critics' score 72 from 16 reviews: 10 positive, 5 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics admire Changeling, and the praise gathers around Angelina Jolie. Nearly every review singles out her Christine Collins as direct, unyielding and affecting, the centre of a long, sweeping story. Eastwood’s direction is praised as confident, several critics approving his decision to widen one mother’s tragedy into an attack on the Los Angeles police and the city’s power structure. The recreation of 1920s Los Angeles is admired widely, and the authorities’ indifference to Collins is what many say stays with them. The reservations are about length and tone. Several critics find the film overlong, sentimental and prone to melodrama, with courtroom scenes and a drawn-out final act costing it urgency; a few object to the music and the tonal shifts. The spread is wide, from full marks to rejection. Slant finds it a graceless muddle that never examines the lies it raises, and the Evening Standard calls it patchy and pompous, finding Jolie increasingly strained while praising the child actors. ## Time Out — Wally Hammond Rating 5/5. 25 November 2008. The review gives Changeling full marks, signaling a strongly positive verdict. It praises Eastwood’s willingness to make varied material his own and take risks. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/changeling) ## Empire — Damon Wise Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 22 May 2008. Wise calls the film a fabulous, ambitious drama. He particularly praises Angelina Jolie’s intimate, involving performance at the center of its sweeping story. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/changeling-review/) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Rating 3.5/4. 30 October 2008. Ebert finds the drama compelling, though weighed down by its length and melodrama. He singles out Angelina Jolie’s performance as a strength. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/changeling-2008) ## Variety — Todd McCarthy Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 20 May 2008. McCarthy finds the film emotionally powerful and stylistically assured, praising Eastwood’s ambitious expansion of a personal tragedy into a critique of Los Angeles’s power structure. He also singles out Angelina Jolie’s direct, affecting performance and the film’s visually vivid period setting. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2008/film/awards/changeling-3-1200522263/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Kirk Honeycutt Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 19 May 2008. Festival review. Honeycutt finds the film compelling and emotionally powerful, though courtroom scenes briefly slow its momentum. He especially praises Angelina Jolie’s portrayal of a mother whose vulnerability and resolve coexist. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/changeling-126241/) ## The AV Club — Keith Phipps Rating B. 23 October 2008. Phipps finds the film compelling and unsettling, but says its final scenes lose urgency. He praises Angelina Jolie’s sad, unyielding performance and the film’s depiction of institutional failure. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/changeling-1798205101) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 28 November 2008. Bradshaw finds the film gutsy, unusual and powerfully told despite some awkward choices. He praises Eastwood’s confident direction and the film’s vivid period detail, while faulting its sugary music and overripe scenes. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/nov/28/changeling-review-angelina-jolie) ## The New Yorker — Richard Brody Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 1 March 2009. Brody presents the film as a compelling lesson in democratic activism. He praises its meticulous period recreation and restrained performances, especially Jolie’s understated portrayal. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/03/09/eastwood-ho) ## Screen Daily — Mike Goodridge Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 20 May 2008. Festival review. The page identifies this as a review, but its verdict is inaccessible. The paywall also conceals what the critic singles out for praise or criticism. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/changeling/4038805.article) ## Total Film — Philip Kemp Rating 3/5. 24 November 2008. The review finds the film gripping at first but overlong and overly sentimental by the end. It praises the convincing recreation of 1920s Los Angeles, while criticizing the one-dimensional characterization and drawn-out endings. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/changeling-review/) ## Slant Magazine — Ed Gonzalez Rating 2/4. 2 October 2008. Gonzalez finds the film a distracted, graceless muddle that fails to examine the lies and themes it raises. He praises Angelina Jolie’s emotionally committed performance as Christine Collins, despite criticizing Eastwood’s framing of her. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/changeling/) ## The New York Times — Manohla Dargis Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 21 May 2008. Festival review. The review’s verdict cannot be verified from the blocked page. Its specific praise or complaint is likewise unavailable. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/movies/21dargis.html) ## Evening Standard Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 10 April 2012. The critic finds the film patchy and pompous, with Angelina Jolie’s performance becoming increasingly strained. The child actors and the story’s subtler ideas about home earn praise. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/changeling-is-the-mother-of-all-tragedies-7411379.html) ## Eye for Film — Jennie Kermode Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 25 November 2008. Kermode finds the film compelling, mature and emotionally gruelling. She praises Straczynski’s restrained script and Jolie’s riveting performance, while noting a flaw in Malkovich’s mannered acting. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/changeling-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) ## Den of Geek — Christian Forbes Rating 4/5. 28 November 2008. The review praises the film as a captivating, moving portrayal of Christine Collins’s fight against police corruption. It singles out Angelina Jolie’s raw, emotional performance for bringing Collins’s struggle and determination to life. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/changeling-review/) ## Digital Spy — Stella Papamichael Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 23 November 2008. The critic finds the film a moving depiction of cruel injustice, though its many shifts in tone leave it lacking cohesion. The indifference Christine faces from authorities makes the strongest impression, while the film skims over her relationship with the impostor boy. [Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a135614/changeling/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/changeling.md