Changeling (2008)
Angelina Jolie: Christine Collins
Photos
Quotes
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[last lines]
Christine Collins : Three boys made a run for it that night, Detective, and if one got out, then maybe either or both of the other two did too. Maybe Walter's out there having the same fears that he did. Afraid to come home and identify himself, or afraid to get in trouble. But either way, it gives me something I didn't have before today.
Detective Lester Ybarra : What's that?
Christine Collins : Hope.
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Christine Collins : I used to tell Walter, "Never start a fight... but always finish it." I didn't start this fight... but by God, I'm going to finish it.
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Christine Collins : Fuck you and the horse you rode in on.
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Christine Collins : He's not my son!
Capt. J.J. Jones : Why are you doing this, Mrs. Collins? Why are you doing this? You seem perfectly capable of taking care of the boy. Your job pays you enough to attend to his personal needs, so I don't understand why you're running away from your responsibilities as a mother.
Christine Collins : I am not running away from anything! Least of all my responsibilities! I am even taking care of that boy right now, because I am all he has! What worries me is that you have stopped looking for my son!
Capt. J.J. Jones : Why should we be looking for someone we've already found?
Christine Collins : Because you have not found him.
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Christine Collins : He's not my son.
Capt. J.J. Jones : Mrs. Collins...
Christine Collins : No, I don't know why he's saying that he is, but he's not Walter and there's been a mistake.
Capt. J.J. Jones : I thought we agreed to give him time to adjust.
Christine Collins : He's three inches shorter; I measured him on the chart.
Capt. J.J. Jones : Well, maybe your measurements are off. Look, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for all of this.
Christine Collins : He's circumcised and Walter isn't.
Capt. J.J. Jones : 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...
Christine Collins : ...made him shorter?
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Christine Collins : I'm perfectly sane and I will explain that to them.
Carol Dexter : How ? The more you try to act sane, the crazier you start to look. If you smile too much, you are delusional or you are stifling hysteria. If you don't smile, you are depressed. If you remain neutral, you are emotionally withdrawn, potentially catatonic.
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Christine Collins : Why would they do this?
Rev. Gustav Briegleb : To avoid admitting they made a mistake when they brought back the wrong boy. Of course, anyone reading the newspaper with half a brain would see through it instantly. Sadly, that would exclude about half the readership of the Times. Mrs. Collins, I have made it my mission in life to bring to light all the things the LAPD wish none of us ever knew about. A department ruled by violence, abuse, murder, corruption and intimidation. When Chief Davis took over the force two years ago, he said...
Chief James E. Davis : We will hold court against gunmen in the streets of Los Angeles. I want them brought in dead, not alive, and I will reprimand any officer who shows the least mercy to a criminal.
Rev. Gustav Briegleb : He picked 50 of the most violent cops on the force, gave them machine guns and permission to shoot anyone who got in their way. He called them the Gun Squad. No lawyers, no trials, no questions, no suspensions, no investigations, just piles of bodies. Bodies in the morgues, bodies in the hospitals, bodies by the side of the road, and not because the LAPD wanted to wipe out crime. No. The LAPD wanted to wipe out the competition. Mayor Cryer and half the force are on the take: gambling, prostitution, bootlegging, you name it. Because once you give people the freedom to do whatever they want, as the Lord found in the Garden of Eden, they will do exactly that. This police department does not tolerate dissent or contradiction or even embarrassment. And you are in a position to embarrass them and they do not like it. They will do anything in their power to discredit you. I've seen it happen too many times to start going blind now. That's why I wanted to meet you, to let you know what you're getting yourself into and to help you fight it, if you choose to.
Christine Collins : Reverend, I appreciate everything that you're doing and everything that you said, but I'm not on a mission. I just want my son home.
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Dr. John Montgomery : He had two cavities that needed filling. He put up a fight, but I took care of it.
Christine Collins : And?
Dr. John Montgomery : Your son's upper front teeth were separated by a small tissue, a diastema. It made them sit about an eighth of an inch apart. The boy in that room has no such gap.
Christine Collins : Can that change with age? Because that's what they're going to say.
Dr. John Montgomery : In some cases, yes, it's possible. But the tissue between Walter's teeth prevents that from happening. You see, they can never come together without an operation to sever the tissue, and I can tell you right now that he has never had such an operation.
Christine Collins : Would you be willing to put that officially in writing?
Dr. John Montgomery : Pardon my language, but hell yes.
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Arthur Hutchins : Night, Mommy.
Christine Collins : [yelling] Stop calling me that! I'm not your mother! I want my son back! Damn you!
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Dr. Jonathan Steele : By signing this, you certify that you were wrong when you stated the boy returned to you by the police was not your son. It further stipulates that the police were right in sending you here for observation and it absolves them of all responsibility.
Christine Collins : I won't sign that.
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Dr. Jonathan Steele : According to your file, you believe that the police substituted a fake boy for your son.
Christine Collins : No, I didn't say he was a fake boy. He's not *my* boy. They brought home the wrong boy. My son is still missing.
Dr. Jonathan Steele : Well, that's strange, because I have here a newspaper article with a photo of you at the train station, welcoming home your son.
[shows her the article]
Dr. Jonathan Steele : That is you in the photo, isn't it?
Christine Collins : Yes.
Dr. Jonathan Steele : So, at first, he was your son and now he's not your son. Has this been going on for a long time? People changing, becoming something other than what they are?
Christine Collins : People don't change.
Dr. Jonathan Steele : You don't think people change?
Christine Collins : No, that's not what I...
Dr. Jonathan Steele : Shh! The police, they're not out to persecute you?
Christine Collins : No, they're not.
Dr. Jonathan Steele : No, they're not. The police are here to protect you.
Christine Collins : Yes.
Dr. Jonathan Steele : Really?
Christine Collins : Yes.
Dr. Jonathan Steele : Well, that's odd, because when you were admitted, you told the head nurse that the police were conspiring *deliberately* to punish you. So, either the head nurse and the interns are also conspiring to punish you or you're changing your story.
[pause]
Dr. Jonathan Steele : Do you often have trouble telling reality from fantasy, Mrs. Collins?
Christine Collins : No...
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[first lines]
Christine Collins : Walter, honey. Time to wake up.
Walter Collins : Just 10 more minutes...
Christine Collins : Sorry, sport. You can sleep in tomorrow, that's what Saturdays are for.
