"Changeling" is out on DVD. My sister joined Netflix. I am a happy camper. I hit her up for the movie last night and finally watched Angelina’s Oscar nominated performance. First, though, I watched the “special features” which I always love. All the actors get interviewed along with the director and in this case, the director was Clint Eastwood. I don’t know about you, but this man bugs me. I cannot look at him and not remember that he somehow screwed over Sondra Locke. Not remembering the details, I was forced to Google. Holy Chamoly! They lived together fourteen years, he locked her out of their (his) home and put all her belongings in storage, then she wrote a “tell all” book alleging abuse. It’s all coming back to me now! What a schmuck! Anyway, I cannot look at him and not think of that poor little blond being bullied by big, bad “Dirty Harry.”

Dong! Dong! Dong! <~~~  HUGE church bells go off in my brain, as opposed to twinkling little “I got my Angel Wings” bells, Sean Connery comes to mind. AAAH! A sexist, asshole schmuck who admitted on TV twice (at least) that sometimes it is necessary to smack a woman, but not with a clenched fist, to calm her down in a “provocative situation.” Huh?  I cannot even wrap my puny little brain around this comment. Yet, women continue to adore both of these men, which I find baffling. I could go on and on here about idiot schmucks, but back to the movie.

Angelina Jolie’s performance was superb, I must admit, but I could not take my eyes off those lips.  Those red, plump, super-sized lips stole every scene. I studied how they moved, looking for signs of Botox paralysis, wondering if she had lip augmentation surgery. I was fascinated with those wondrous lips. They must drive men wild.  They have to be the reason Brad left Jen. What man could possibly gaze at those luscious lips and not imagine them wrapped around… Well you know…  I don’t have to ‘splain this to you, Lucy!  Jolie’s beauty is like no other. She is the epitome of the Greek Goddess, so I found it hard to imagine her in the role of poor, struggling Christine Collins, whose son had disappeared from her life forever.  The splendor that is her face, was just simply too distracting.

As spellbound as I was by Angie’s beauty, the comparisons to Octo-Mom became apparent to me.  I started thinking Octo-Mom could have starred in this movie and it would have been much more believable. Isn’t she a much more pathetic character? And poor Angie, (trust me, I rarely think this, and only in this one case) having Octo-Mom as a look-a-like.  Ewwwwwwwww!!

I found the story line even more enthralling since it is actually a true story. Swear to God! This woman’s son was kidnapped, the police tried to pawn some strange kid off onto her, she was slammed into a mental institution and toyed with by the murderer. The heartache and pain this woman endured seemed unrelenting and never ending. She went through hell and I wanted to strangle someone at the Los Angeles Police Department.  I read Clint Eastwood actually visited the ranch where these horrendous murders took place. Why? Because it is still standing!!  And people are still living there!!!  WTF??  The town changed its name, however, after the trial due to the fact so many tourists (polite word for demented lunatics seeking the macabre) came searching for the place.

The craziest thing I discovered (I love Google) after watching the movie is that the murderer’s mother/grandmother was an active participant in these child killings. Apparently, there was so much incest in the family no one ever knew for sure who belonged to whom.  She was also tried and served only twelve years of her life sentence in San Quentin Prison before being paroled. This was never brought out in the movie. Her son was sentenced to hang by a rope until death, which frankly, wasn’t enough punishment if you ask me.

The vintage costumes supposedly reflected clothes found in a Sears, Roebuck Co. catalog… I don’t think soooooooo!  I have pictures of my mother and grandmother from the 1920’s and 1930’s.  Trust me, their clothes actually did come from Sears, but somehow didn’t look as grand as Angie’s. If that green dress she wore came from a Sears catalog I’ll eat my hat!  (I won’t really, so don’t hold me to this)

All in all, I liked the movie and would recommend it, just be careful not to become too enthralled with Angie’s lips.