41 out of 43 people found the following review helpful:
A Mighty Heart
SAI81 from from Tonbridge,
25th September, 2007
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.
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