— He’s not my son.
— Mrs. Collins…
— He’s three inches shorter; I measured him on the chart.
— Well, maybe your measurements are off. Look, I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation for all of this.
— He’s circumcised and Walter isn’t.
— Mrs. Collins, your son was missing for five months, for at least part of that time in the company of an unidentified drifter. Who knows what such a disturbed individual might have done. He could have had him circumcised. He could have…
— …made him shorter?

Eastwood is one of the finest directors now at work. I often say I’m mad at Fassbinder for dying at 38 and denying us decades of his films. In a way, I’m also mad at Eastwood for not directing his first film until he was 41. We could not do without his work as an actor. But most of his greatest films as a director have come after “retirement age.” Some directors start young and get tired. Eastwood is only gathering steam (…) Changeling displays the directness and economy of his mentor, Don Siegel. It has not a single unnecessary stylistic flourish. No contrived dramatics. No shocking stunts (…) This is the story of an administration that directed from the top down to lie, cheat, torture, extract false confessions and serve to protect its image. In a way, it is prophetic. — Roger Ebert, 2008*