A Mighty Heart

last updated 8 January 2015

The story of Daniel Pearl's death is an important one, but is it right for the big screen? said Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times. The American reporter, living in Karachi, Pakistan, with his pregnant wife, Mariane, left one day for an interview and never came home. This film portrays her search, along with an international team of officials, to find him. Pearl's senseless death at the hands of Islamic terrorists hasn't been made any more comprehensible by A Mighty Heart. In fact, narrative and moral murkiness seem to be part of the point. Where most thrillers 'œdepend on action, conflict, triumph, and defeat, this one depends on impotence and frustration.' The documentary-style filmmaking of director Michael Winterbottom is at odds with Angelina Jolie's star power, said Lisa Schwarzbaum in Entertainment Weekly. As Mariane, Jolie vastly overshadows Dan Futterman's Daniel. Like it or not, the actress' 'œintensity, combined with the aura of her celebrity, becomes the story, and the character of the actual Danny Pearl recedes in importance.' Once the film gets going, though, Jolie starts to disappear into her role, said Rene Rodriguez in The Miami Herald. Stoic for most of the film, her Mariane finally breaks when she learns of Daniel's murder. Jolie lets loose 'œwith a display of animalistic, uncontrollable grief that probably will bring her an Oscar nomination. It'll be well-deserved.'

Rating: R