Movie Review: A Mighty Heart

A Mighty Heart is a tough movie to go into. We know how this story ends, since everyone that is going into this movie knows how it is going to end the filmmakers need to rely on something other than plot. The story has to be elevated somehow, the emotional quotient has to be amped up, and the performances have to carry all of the dramatic weight to make the movie have some sort of substance. The story of Daniel Pearl is one loaded with emotion and sadness, and it would be easy for the director and writer to sit back and let the emotion of the situation carry us through. Fortunately, director Michael Winterbottom and star Angelina Jolie do not let this happen. The end result is not perfect, but it is a powerful story of love and loss in a fast changing world.

There have been a few movies over the past couple of years that told stories that we all know the ending to and proved to be emotionally draining experiences. What is tough about these types of films is that it is easy to get caught up in the real emotion related to the actual events rather than how successful the film is at telling the story and letting a finely crafted film draw out the emotion more organically. Two of these recent films are The Passion of the Christ and United 93, however neither seems like a good example of a film that relies on the real emotion, as they are both finely crafted and powerful films, and would be in the same category as A Mighty Heart in how they are well crafted. A better example of a film in the other category would be World Trade Center, which, when viewed objectively, is rather generically directed, there is nothing special about that presentation, however the true story behind the events supplies the emotion, along with Nicolas Cage's performance. Anyway, the point I am trying to make is that films that we know the ending of need to have strong performances and strong direction to give it meaning beyond just a telling of the story.

The film is based off of the memoirs written by Mariane Pearl, and it recounts her experiences of being in Karachi, Pakistan with her husband Daniel. Daniel was working on a story and it was leading him to meet with Sheik Gelani, a meeting which turned out to be a smoke screen as he was kidnapped by a terrorist group. However, we are not told any of his story with the terrorists, what happened, and we never see his fate, nor the videotape that was released. This is primarily the story of Mariane Pearl and the horror that she had to deal with, and the strength of character and heart that she possesses. This is a story that is firmly centered on Mariane Pearl.

Angelina Jolie, handpicked by Mrs. Pearl, stars in the film, and gives what may be her finest performance. She is not the usual sobbing hysterical wife out of control of herself in the face of such a tragedy, rather she remains cool, calculated, and incredibly strong. She is a woman that knows what is at stake and is able to control herself in the face of such a dire situation. Jolie commands your attention with her powerful and moving characterization. I know I stopped seeing Jolie and only saw Pearl, she disappeared into the role and centered the humanity of this story.

The film is shot in a way that looks very much like a documentary. We, the audience, are like flies on the wall, bearing witness to the investigation and the various personalities involved. It is a very intimate film as Michael Winterbottom gets us right in with the actors, lots of closeups never letting us get a breather. It is a well crafted thriller that doesn't rely on action, gunfights, and explosions, but rather the human drama involved. I admit that there were many times that I could not keep the characters names straight, but even without knowing the names, I never had any trouble following what they were trying to accomplish.

A Mighty Heart is a triumph of a film that gives us incredible human drama, a tense story that keeps you at attention, even knowing the ending, and is at its heart, a story of love between Mariane and Daniel. It is a movie that does not belittle what happened, nor does it aim to make Daniel or Mariane a hero, it does give us a story that is free of the politics that you would expect to see, and also aims to put focus on the continuing ongoing tragedies that are occuring in the Middle East.

Bottomline. This is a story that was only able to be brought to the big screen due to the involvement of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and to them I am thankful. Together with Winterbottom and screenwriter John Orloff, the film is dramatic, emotional, and well crafted. It does a great jon of bringing Mrs. Pearl's story to the screen, as well as those around her.

Recommended.