I saw this today and thought it was an excellent film. Eastwood evokes the sumptuous 20's LA and clashes it with the dark underbelly in perhaps his most visually pleasing film to date.
Like most Eastwood films it is in no rush too get anywhere, Eastwood builds up the story which is part drama and part thriller, with a meticulous and intriguing pace that unveils it's hand piece by piece in an ever more intriguing case that has multiple dark layers.
The movie could never be described as exciting and it has no stand out set pieces, but I found it riveting and beautifully made with pitch perfect performances all round. Jolie is worthy of her plaudits, she brings a raw and painful emotional core to the role of Christine Collins, building her from timid and distraught to strong and defiant through the course of the movie, but never slipping into kick ass Angie mode.
Of the support Jeffrey Donovan is the standout as the brutal and smarmy face of the LAPD corruption, he really succeeds in creating a credibly hateful character, Malkovich with an odd accent is good as always and Amy Ryan delivers another good performance in a small role. Also worthy of note is Michael Kelly who plays an honest cop whohas a relatively small but integral role
This is classy film making from one of the best ever, and the second best film Ive seen this year.
8.5/10
