A Mighty Heart
2007
***
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Cast: Angelina Jolie, Dan Futterman, Will Patton, Archie Panjabi, Irfan Khan, Gary Wilmes, Denis O'Hare
In 2002 a Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped in Karachi by Islamist militants. In the following ten days the Pakistani authorities, American diplomats and journalists, and the victim's heavily pregnant wife Mariane were in a race against time to find him. Michael Winterbottom turns her memoir into a gripping geopolitical crime drama, but his film is not equally effective as a portrayal of personal tragedy. The title refers to Mariane's bravery in the face of hardship, but, as portrayed by Angelina Jolie, she remains oddly calm and composed through her ordeal. And so did I.
