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A MIGHTY HEART Send This Review to a Friend
With the grim fate of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl known, the tension of the engrossing reprise of his story in “A Mighty Heart” lies in the vivid effort to find out what happened before his execution at the hands of terrorists was revealed, and in the portrait of his journalist wife, Mariane, attempting to cope with fears of the worst against the background of her love for him. The casting of Angelina Jolie as Mariane was a stroke of genius, as apart from the attention she was bound to get, her acting demonstrates her ability to handle a high-profile serious role with great success. Her performance is outwardly muted, save for a scene in which she shrieks in horror after learning of her husband’s death, but beneath the controlled exterior is reflected Mrs. Pearl’s deep anxiety, bravery and ultimate commitment to her husband’s memory and perpetuating his story as a symbol of a fight against terrorism. Jolie’s commendable acting says it all.
Pearl’s wife, as we know, was pregnant during this time, and among the final scenes is the birth of their son. As a result of Jolie’s performance and the stakes involved, an audience can be moved to tears by the sadness of the story and the power of the acting. This is not a film that advances the subject matter in any grand way, but it tells the tale dramatically, with director Michael Winterbottom developing plenty of movement and action in the desperate race against time to try to final Pearl and save him. The documentary-like efforts to catch the kidnappers and all involved in the carefully laid plot involve police searches, rousing suspects in the middle of the night and applying torture to extract information.
Although the film is tense, the acting is generally restrained. “A Mighty Heart” has been constructed with care and intelligence, a reflection of the screenplay by John Orloff, based on Mariane Pearl’s book, “A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband Danny Pearl.” The scenes in Karachi give a sense of the teaming humanity in that part of the world and the challenges of trying to dig out conspirators in such an environment. The film also touches on the Pakistan-India tensions and relates efforts to shift blame. There are warmly presented flashback scenes showing the relationship of Pearl (Dan Futterman) and his wife.
Lines on screen at the end of the film tell of what has happened to the perpetrators, but I wish there were also a line informing us of the number of journalists who have died in the line of duty world-wide. Pearl is only one case, albeit a dastardly example that has been highly publicized. It should remind us of the risks journalists face these days in so many volatile places. A Paramount Vantage release.
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