A Mighty Heart Reviews

[Highly rated reviewer]

Didn't watch

I couldn't rate this as I turned it off when I realised what the content was. I don't watch films about the atrocities of war. I only got it cos Angelina was in it. Don't let me put you off though. Just not for me.

[Highly rated reviewer]

A Mighty Heart

You have to wonder what motivated a journalist to risk their lives in a melting pot hell hole like Pakistan . Recently BBC reporter Alan Johnson was released after 114 days from being kidnapped in Gaza , he was one of the Lucky ones.

On Jan. 23, 2002, Mariane Pearl's world changed forever. Her husband Daniel, South Asia bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal, was researching a story on shoe bomber Richard Reid. The story drew them to Karachi where a go-between had promised access to an elusive source. As Danny left for the meeting, he told Mariane he might be late for dinner. He never returned.

This is a fantastic insight in to what goes on when a kidnapping occurs in Muslim country. How the local police and security forces handle the investigation and how these Islamic factions kidnap legitimate journalists to further their pathetic causes.

Don't ever let it be said that Angelina Jolie cant act . Her performance in A Mighty Heart is a fascinating , moving and masterful display of a remarkable woman who goes through so much pain and heartache but has it in her heart not to hate .

Her portrayal of Mariane Pearl is one of the finest performances i have seen in a long while. maybe even the best acting performance i have seen this year.

8 out of 10

[Highly rated reviewer]

A Mighty Heart

Michael Winterbottom is one of the most brilliant filmmakers in the UK. His films are completely uncategorisable ranging from doom laden Hardy adaptation Jude, to the hardcore relationship film 9 Songs and from lesbian Thelma and Louise Butterfly Kiss to this, a docudrama telling of the story behind the kidnapping and subsequent murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002.

I’m always excited about a new Michael Winterbottom film but I was a bit sceptical about this one because of the presence of Angelina Jolie in the leading role of Marianne Pearl. I’ve never rated her as much of an actress, having only enjoyed her in a single film; Gia and the prospect of her darkening her skin and adopting an accent to play Marianne just set alarm bells ringing for me. However Jolie is outstanding. It’s a little strange for about 10 minutes but the actress disappears quickly, leaving behind only the character. This was a passion project for Jolie and it shows in her performance, which gets to extremes of emotion I doubted she was capable of. There are a couple of scenes of particular note first is a mid-movie TV interview in which Marianne is asked what she’d say if she could see her husband at that moment, I defy anyone to remain unmoved by Jolie’s reading of “I love you”. The moment that is likely to bring an Oscar nomination though is after Marianne is told, “Danny didn’t make it” Jolie rips your heart out as she screams from her very soul in an absolutely devastating moment.

Equally strong, but destined to get lost in the rush to praise Jolie, is Dan Futterman. He makes Danny immediately engaging and likeable, painting a remarkably full portrait of the man with very limited screen time.

The other performances are also exemplary, with particularly strong contributions from British actress Archie Panjabi as Marianne’s best friend and Irfan Khan as the Pakistani policeman leading the hunt for Danny.

It’s sad to say but the problems with A Mighty Heart come, more often than not, from the directorial side. In the sequences following the police hunt for Danny Winterbottom appears to have caught the same disease that afflicted Paul Greengrass on The Bourne Ultimatum. His camera simply can’t stay still, and this makes what should be exciting sequences a trial to watch as you try to follow the detail in the frame and keep your lunch where it is meant to be. Fortunately within the house, where most of the movie takes place, his work is more sedate and that section of the film is very much easier to watch.

There’s a bigger, and harder to define, problem at work too. Despite the fact that the acting is terrific and, outside of the pursuit sequences, Winterbottom’s direction is strong until the last 20 minutes I found that the film kept me at arms length. It felt long on detail, but short on emotion. By the end, of course, you can’t help but be caught in the sheer horror of events but it does take rather a long time to get there.

A Mighty Heart is definitely worth seeing, if only for Jolie’s brilliant performance, but next time out I’d really like to see Michael Winterbottom tackle something close to his, rather than someone else’s, heart.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Worthwhile story well told...

A really thought provoking documentary style film about the terrorist kidnap of Danny Pearl in Pakistan, seen through the eyes of his wife, friends, colleagues and the local police and media, this documents the events that unfold surrounding the detection, reporting and final outcome of the story. The way this is filmed feels so accurate that you actually become involved in the whole thing and get carried along with it. An important film that does not pull any punches or hide any problems in the hugely populated city of Karachi and Pakistan as a whole with its internal problems and difficulties with neighbouring countries. It really highlights modern political, and terrorist, problems and difficulties in family and friends coming to terms with such awful situations, one of the worst thing you could imagine having to deal with. Worth a watch.

A brilliantly powerful film

This film had me gripped from start to finish. Its beautifully filmed and it deals with the subject matter of Al Quieda kidnappings etc in a rounded and clever way - I was prepared for it to be horribly pro US and one-sided but was pleasantly surprised. Angelina Jolie was absolutely brillant and believable, I thought she was in the Keira Knightly league of annoying actress who pout and slink their way through films, but I was soooooo wrong, she has real talent, just brilliant. I am also a big fan of Dan Futterman ever since Shooting Fish, although is is not in the film much he is still good and believable. You must see this, although I felt like my heart was being ripped out in some parts, so be prepared to think a lot about the film , after its ended.

And the DIck Van Dyke Comedy Accent Award goes to.....

This is a decent movie however, if you don't know the story already (it a true story) DO NOT select the option to watch the intro with some random woman first! She literally reveals the outcome with her first sentence.

Onto the film..... Basically, it is pretty solid with some good performances. Sadly, in my opinion, you can't count Angelina Jolie amongst them which isn't great as she's the main character! Specifically, it is her hideous stab at a French accent with an American tinge (I'm reliably informed that's what it is anyway...) that really grates. Especially in the early scenes she sounds Spanish, South American and Portuguese before she seems to settle on a poor French accent with the odd completely American sentence thrown in. Not quite as bad as Don Cheadle in Oceans 11, but not far off....

If you don't reckon that'll annoy you, it's worth a look.

mighty strength needed 2 watch

unfortunately i didnt really enjoy this movie and never really watched it to the end..there just wasnt enough action to keep me glued to the screen...maybe the fact that it is based on a true story ...wouldnt recommend it unless if one is really into true movies

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A Mighty Heart

Was looking forward to this offering from Michael Winterbottom that follows the real life kidnap of American Journalist Daniel Perl (Dan Futterman) and although I realise it's not without it's difficulties to present a story like this one but I have to say apart from the performances this one didn't float my boat. Danny is almost on his way out of Pakistan with his pregnant wife and fellow journalist Mariane ( Angelina Jolie) when he chases one last story. Sadly for him he is kidnapped by an extremist group and the story unfolds as a large group of agencies including the FBI descend on Mariane 's home to try and locate Danny and negoiate his release.

The story is well documented so I won't go into a lengthy synopsis, but there really was far too much going on in this one to hold my concentration, with really small subtitles on the screen (hardly legible) everytime the venue switched or something happened. I found it a bit stodgy, fragmented, and rather souless if I'm honest, though the performances were good and Jolie with brown contact lenses took on a whole new persona, with her French accent almost spot on. So glad I never raced to the cinena to see this one though, maybe worth a DVD watch if this kind of thing suits your palate. It usually does mine, but on this ocassion fell a bit short.

[Highly rated reviewer]

A moribund heart

Sorry, but it was slow, dull and depressing. Important subject matter yes, but best left to documentary rather than this poor slowly paced film. Well acted, intelligent, well shot, all of that...just left you feeling mmm, well, must be awful, God I'm depressed! Don't bother!

[Highly rated reviewer]

A mighty bore

What a boring film. They tell you the ending at the start and then it's one long yawn to get to that end.