Based on Mariane Pearl's account of the terrifying and unforgettable story of her husband, Wall Street Journal reporter Danny Pearl's life and death.
A Mighty Heart comes at the murder of journalist Daniel Pearl with a de-glamorized intensity: it's not a melodrama about Pearl's kidnapping and killing at the hands of Islamic terrorists, but a near-documentary about the process of trying to find him. Thus the center of the film is not Pearl (Dan Futterman) but his wife Mariane (Angelina Jolie), a cool customer who manages--almost--to maintain her calm throughout the weeks-long ordeal. Director Michael Winterbottom is less overtly political here than in his Road to Guantanamo, although the reactions of various authorities, from U.S. officials to local Pakistani cops, give the flavor of different attitudes and approaches. Jolie, playing the Dutch-Afro-Cuban Mariane Pearl, does nicely at playing her character's control (others marvel at her sangfroid), yet she remains recognizably human throughout. By no means a star turn, the movie leaves Mariane for long stretches, and other actors shine: Irfan Khan as a detective, Denis O'Hare as Daniel Pearl's Washington Post editor, and Will Patton as a stymied diplomat. As engrossing as the movie generally is, the point of emphasizing the police-procedural method is sometimes obscure. Oddly enough, by rejecting the usual string-pulling of conventional Hollywood drama, A Mighty Heart ends up without a strong point of view--as good as its pieces are. --Robert Horton
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
Rather flat retelling of a story we know:
The story of Wall Street Journal newsman Danny Pearl is know in its outlines, culminating in his kidnapping and brutal murder in 2002. "A Mighty Heart" brings the story to life by allowing us to accompany Mariane Pearl, Danny's French-born journalist wife, as she agonizes over her husband's abduction. Angelina Jolie does a creditable, if one-dimensional, job of portraying Mariane's courage and anguish, as well as the attempts of WSJ editors, FBI and Pakistani authorities to track down Danny's whereabouts... more info
A Mighty Motion Picture:
Angelina Jolie stars in the story of the terrorist kidnapping of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. She plays Mariane Pearl, Daniel's wife, and much of the movie centers around her efforts to find her husband, before it is too late. One needs to pay attention, as it is a little difficult to follow all the leads in the kidnapping, good and bad. Definitely worth the time. The story more than held my attention. In fact, it was like a book that one cannot put down.
Bleeding Love:
Aside from the disturbing subject matter, A Mighty Heart was done very well. They handled the tragedy of Daniel Pearl's murder in a non-exploitative manner. You sort of have to be a "news" person or in some way be fascinated with the 9/11 genre to really be entertained by this film. A Mighty Heart not only focuses on the timeline story of what happened but also includes alot of intoxicating viniettes of the city street life in Pakistan. It gives you a glimpse inside a world many of us will never get to see.... more info
interesting drama that could use some fleshing out:
***1/2 Daniel Pearl was, of course, the foreign correspondent for the "Wall Street Journal" who was kidnapped and brutally executed by a group of Muslim jihadists whom he had sought out for an interview in early 2002. His wife, Marianne, also a journalist and pregnant with their child at the time, later went on to publish a chronicle of that event, appropriately entitled "A Mighty Heart." Adapted by John Orloff and starring Angelina Jolie and Dan Futterman in the principal roles, the movie of the... more info
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