Description: 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.
Amazon.com: 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
Average Rating:
Rating: - 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 ... Read More
Rating: - 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 ... Read More
Rating: - 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 ... Read More
Rating: - 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 ... Read More
Rating: - A mighty heart
This movie was kinda long and drawn out(boring). Sorry I purchased it, might resell it. The only part of that movie that keeps poping up in my mind is when Daniel pearl was ask about 911. "Why so many jews didn't show ... Read More
- Rather flat retelling of a story we know
- A Mighty Motion Picture
- A mighty heart