'Changeling' (R) (out of four)

There will be outrage.

Director Clint Eastwood's "Changeling" defies the rules of the typical thriller. Rather than going for the oohs and ahs, ratcheting up tension and then offering audience a visceral thrill or two, "Changeling" ever-so-slowly unfurls in front of us, plunging audiences deeper and deeper into a dark crevice of corruption gone awry.

As such, it involves the audience, but not in the hopes of entertaining us. We are drawn further into this tale to share the outrage of its makers. This is not escapism, but active, unmistakable anger.

It is a story of people -- and a city -- at the brink. The year is 1928, and the woman at the center of it all is Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie). Her son has gone missing, and this distraught mother is mourned universally by the citizens of Los Angeles during this dark age. Even among the agonies of the era, something about Christine's pain resonates with her fellow citizens who have done their best to become numb to it all.

The cops are corrupt, serving interests other than the public good. So it's little surprise that they seize on this undeniable tragedy with a scam: They will reunite Christine with her son, and be hailed as the saviors. Only problem is that Christine's child has not been found. She is reunited with an imposter and when she dares to claim that the police have led her astray, they lock her up -- with all the other women who have dared to raise their voice.

It is her case that brings out the Rev. Gustav Briegleb (John Malkovich), a celebrity radio preacher who has been using his public pulpit to decry the state of the police department. She goes missing, he comes swinging and this universal tragedy becomes a rallying cry for a city that seems to collectively agree: This time, the police have gone too far.

The film doesn't so much build as unravel, a surface story of a missing child and a distraught mother giving way to something far more slippery and sinister -- their lives swept aside.

Jolie underscores the utter helplessness of her character. She doesn't capitalize on the material or resort to grandstanding, but instead gets out of the material's way, succumbing to the forces beyond her control. Her absence leaves an emotional vacuum that is filled by the raging Malkovich, who comes out with a vengeance as he rejects the way this city manipulated, maligned and cast aside an innocent woman.

It's a safe bet that few films will elicit as strong an audience reaction as "Changeling." Eastwood has always made movies with verve and passion, but his outrage here is off the charts. He knows the hand he's been dealt with this story and he doesn't overplay a card.

It's so easy to see how Hollywood could have screwed up "Changeling," taking the drama too far and milking this personal hell for added melodrama. But Eastwood has been around too long to make the easy mistake and he carefully lays out the evidence: Collins is one of the great, unknown victims of modern America.