Clint Eastwood's Changeling
has drawn some of the strongest early reviews yet at the Cannes Film Festival. (Critics
were unsure what the actual title was. The festival said on Tuesday that it had received
a written notice from the studio that the title had been changed to The Exchange
, aligning it with the French title, L'Échange. But at a news conference
Eastwood implied that he had not agreed to a such a change, and the daily festival
program, after revising the title on Tuesday changed it back to The Changeling today.)
Geoffrey MacNab in the London Independent called the film a "magisterial piece
of work." While predicting that the movie won't become a big box-office success for
Eastwood, he concluded that "in its unfussy craftsmanship and emotional punch, it shows
him still at the peak of his powers." Writing for the British trade publication Screen
Daily, Mike Goodridge predicted that the movie will "go all the way from the
Palais to the Academy Awards." Several critics attending the screening came away forecasting
an Oscar nomination not only for Eastwood but also for the film's star, Angelina
Jolie. "She is the entire, anxious point of Eastwood's film," wrote James Christopher
in the London Times, "and absolutely terrific." Todd McCarthy in Daily Variety
called her performance "top notch." And Kurt Honeycutt wrote in the Hollywood
Reporter, "Jolie puts on a powerful emotional display."
21/05/2008
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