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A MIGHTY HEART
Directed by: Michael Winterbottom.
Produced by: Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner & Andrew Eaton.
Written by John Orloff, based on the book A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband Danny Pearl by Mariane Pearl.
Director of Photography: Marcel Zyskind.
Edited by: Peter Christelis.
Released by: Paramount Vantage.
Country of Origin: USA. 108 min. Rated R.
With: Angelina Jolie, Dan Futterman, Archie Panjabi, Irrfan Khan, Will Patton & Denis O’Hare.

Rest easy: Hollywood’s biggest star of the moment and weekly tabloid cover girl doesn’t overwhelm the film adaptation of Mariane Pearl’s biography of the kidnapping and brutal murder of her husband, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, by Islamic extremists in 2002. Disbelief of Jolie as the French-born half-Cuban, half-Dutch journalist is immediately dispelled with her voice-over, in a thick and unfailing French accent, followed by close-ups of the star donning brown contact lenses and brunette ringlets. This is not a Natalie Wood West Side Story moment or, for that matter, Jolie’s maligned and strangely accented performance in Alexander.

She more than matches the vocal quality and determination of the real-life Mariane. (The two women have been friends for years.) Besides the fact that the camera loves her, Jolie exudes more charisma than most of her contemporaries, and her headstrong portrayal is far from sentimental, like the film itself – she doesn’t play the victim/martyr, but rather is prone to fits of anger and frustration as well as calm articulateness. (Marianne was five months pregnant at the time of the kidnapping.)

Focusing on the investigation of Daniel’s disappearance, director Michael Winterbottom lets the facts of the tragedy speak for themselves. As in real life, Marianne draws a chart of potential culprits and clues. Although the diagram is helpful, the audience will likely be confused by the slew of names and their connection to the case, but no matter. What Winterbottom is really striving for is not only complexity but a larger portrait. (Daniel went missing while seeking an interview with a radical cleric connected to “shoe bomber” Richard Reid.)

Winterbottom’s economical and fast-paced adaptation touches upon a multitude of issues that played a part in the Pearl kidnapping and investigation – the tensions between India and Pakistan and the treatment of terrorist suspects held at Guantánamo Bay, for example. No equivocator, Winterbottom doesn’t hold back regarding the use of torture in the war on terror. Here he’s far more effective, dramatically, than his examination of prisoner abuse in his earlier The Road to Guantánamo, which comes across as more of a diatribe in comparison.

Inevitably, many fascinating anecdotes from the book are left out – Mariane’s family background, the effort to get Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) to issue a plea for Daniel’s safety, and the media ban on revealing his Jewish identity. However, by specifically and succinctly capturing the post-9/11 world, Winterbottom’s smart adaptation confronts the underlying question of how to respond to terrorism. And in terms of storytelling, he wisely saves the most moving scene for last. Kent Turner
June 22, 2007