Date Night

Dan and I usually go to dinner on Friday evenings. It's our "date night." But last night we did things a little differently.

We went to an afternoon movie matinee, to see "The Changeling," starring Angelina Jolie as a single mother, living in Los Angeles in the 1920s. When her nine-year-old son goes missing, in 1928, she frantically turns to the LA Police Department, which, at that time in history, was known for rampant corruption.

After five horrible months of waiting and grieving, she is ecstatic when told, by the police, that her son has been found! But when he arrives in LA and steps from the train, she comes to the awful realization that the boy is not her son at all. In his attempt to make the police look like heroes in the eyes of the news reporters, who are crowding around to capture the happy reunion, the police captain (played by Jeffrey Donovan of Burn Notice fame), refuses to acknowledge the mother's protests, and sends her home with the boy. "It's been five months, Mrs. Collins," he tells her. "The boy has been through a lot. His appearance has changed, that's all."

The movie is based upon a true story. I won't divulge any details or reveal the ending, but will say that it left me, both, angry at the injustice of the situation and full of admiration for the unbending courage and determination of the mother, in what appeared to be an impossible situation.

For Dan and me, "date night" started, this week, with an afternoon matinee, and ended with a trip to Costco, where we each enjoyed a Polish sausage on a bun for dinner - best dinner bargain in town (hotdog and drink combo for only $1.50). The movie and the bargain dinner both get a thumbs up from me.

The Changeling (Directed by Clint Eastwood).