Changeling, not to be confused with the creepy George C. Scott gem of the same name, is the latest effort from the brilliant Clint Eastwood – a film maker who only appears to get better with age. Unfortunately, he stumbles a bit here.

Based on a true incident, Changeling tells the story of Christine Collins (played by Angelina Jolie), a single mother in 1920's Los Angeles who would go through complete and utter hell to find her missing son. After a five month search, the corrupt and bad mouthed police department would eventually reunite Christine with her son. The problem is, when Collins meets up with the department to be reunited with her little boy, she's shocked to discover that they've found the wrong kid. Upon explaining to authorities they've made a mistake, the department, tries to convince Collins that the boy is in fact hers. Is Christine out of her mind, or is the police department so tired of ridicule and embarrasment at the hands of the press that they're trying to bury the truth? Take a wild guess.

You have to hand it to Clint Eastwood. He knows how to shoot a picture. With Changeling, Eastwood does what all great directors do. He transports you to an entirely different time. The look of this picture is astonishing bringing to mind the old school Los Angeles on display in Curtis Hanson's brilliant adaptation of L.A. Confidential. If only J. Michael Straczynski were half as good.

Truth be told, this is a fascinating story. Watching this woman get put through the ringer by a vicious police department made me angry and I bought into it because this case went down in an entirely different era. Had this happened today, a DNA test would have been the first course of action. Obviously, they didn't have such tests back then thus giving the police department enormous control and power. Not only was Collins a single mother in a sexist time, but she didn't have science on her side.

Alas, what starts off as an intriguing story, quickly becomes a long winded exercise in dull melodrama. At nearly two and a half hours long, Changeling challenges the audience to sit through a lot of dead weight. The mid section of the film in particular really drags. There's an entire portion of the film that takes place in a psyche ward. As Collins is unjustly thrown in the looney bin, we're introduced to a completely unnecessary stock character (played by the talented Amy Ryan). An actress of Ryan's power really deserved more.

Immediately following, the film goes into several intricate subplots, some of which are interesting, and some of which are not. Through it all, Angelina Jolie weeps and spouts; "I want my son back!" about a thousand times. Now, I suppose I'd probably do the same thing if I lost my son. In Changeling however, it's redundant beyond belief. What's more, there's really something lacking in Jolie's performance. I can't quite put my finger on it. The tears certainly feel real, but she never really appears to completely slip into this role. Perhaps it was the fact that Jolie would just go out and adopt a few more sons under the circumstances. Her turn in A Mighty Heart was far more effective.

Eastwood does provide some amazingly emotional moments here. Towards the end of the picture, we learn of a heroic event involving Collins' son and it proves to be a key moment in the movie, particularly when we arrive to Changeling's bittersweet conclusion. Unfortunately these moments are few and far between.

In the end, Christine Collins' story would have worked better in documentary form. As a narrative, it just doesn't quite come together. Again, I loved the look of the picture, but it just sort of runs out of steam in the second hour. Not a bad picture, but not in keeping with Eastwood's best.

Up next for Mr. Eastwood? December's "Gran Torino". Basically, it looks like Dirty Harry busted out of the senior citizen home. And I mean that in the best possible way. I love to see Eastwood in kick-ass mode! In the trailer, he utters what will certainly be one of the most memorable lines of the year. Upon watching a girl get attacked by gang-bangers in his yard, he looks up at them with that steely glance and says; "Get off my lawn!" I can't wait!