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This movie has a setting in Los Angeles in the 1920’s and the scenes are atmostpheric to that time frame. The story revolves around a woman named Christine Collins played by Angelina Jolie and the sudden disappearance of her son, Walter. When she initially calls the police, they say wait to the morning, they don’t have the time and resources to check into every case like this right away. The lack of a wide initial manhunt and investigation by the police weighs heavily in the plot as it evolves and the events of the movie are based on a true historical case. There is the backdrop of astounding corruption on the police force, where the police are allowed to execute alleged criminals before even bringing them in on charges. But at the same time, they don’t want the criminals to come in on their own turf for payoffs. This corruption, while there, is fragmented and not totally widespread through the force as some of the police are not involved nor seem to even know about it, yet the corruption emanates from the highest level of the police force The movie is very atmospheric to the period with things like Trolley cars and Jolie’s striking beauty is somewhat muted by makeup and her usual strong voice is somewhat toned down and it could be that you almost wouldn’t know it is her playing the part. The movie, while not blatantly violent, is particularly rough. It contains a number of high level acting performances and John Malkovich is just great as the Reverend and the pro bono lawyer is just outstanding in his portrayals. Within the story that evolves there are a number of intriguing elements. One is the unfolding mystery of just what happened with this boy and how there seemed to exists kind of a hobo culture of drifters and he might have gotten caught up with that somehow. And then what comes across is just how forceful some of the elements of society were, both on the side of good and not so good. How these forces would counterbalance and which forces would take the lead is a big part of this movie and the era it depicts. This displayed forcefulness also involves individual intellectualizations and gamesmanship but also at times takes on a life of it’s own within collective groups and operates almost as a separate identifiable entity from any one person. The good cops are still as rough and tumble as could be, and their gruffness was well depicted. The evolution of the story as it doesn’t seem to wholly resolve seems to mirror the times and the subtle elements of uncertainty involved in this era where people seemed to have one foot in the past and another into an uncertain future that was only partly promising and mostly opaque. People would go about their business but the backdrop of the future maybe couldn’t be fully contemplated regardless if one wanted to make their way presently. Yes, the wheels would still be spinning but how, why and where was unresolved for now. Collectivist elements of society are shown everywhere including where Christine Collins works at the phone lines. But within all this, what to watch out for is the standout forcefulness of certain individuals, led in particular by the Reverend and the pro bono lawyer on this case who forcefulness is overriding even in these rough channels. The acting is this movie is bordering on astounding.
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