Film Reviews

A Mighty Heart

• Rating:
• Director: Michael Winterbottom.
• Starring: Angelina Jolie, Dan Futterman, Irfan Khan, Will Patton.
• Details: US / UK / 100mins (15A).

Based on a true story, A Mighty Heart sees Angelina Jolie deliver the best performance of her career as Mariane Pearl, the pregnant wife of Daniel Pearl (Futterman), the Wall Street Journal reporter kidnapped in Pakistan by Islamic jihads in 2002. Helping to man the phones and track down the kidnappers are FBI man Bennett (Patton) and the tough Pakistani police captain (Khan), under pressure from his superiors to solve the case fast and halt Pakistan's embarrassment. A Mighty Heart moves with such a frenetic pace you'd be forgiven for feeling knackered after the credits roll. Winterbottom has taken Paul Greengrass's handheld approach and plunged it right into the heart of his film - which isn't a bad thing - never giving the camera a moment's peace and, apart from the odd flashback showing how in-love the couple are (of which there was no need as Jolie's 'worry face' does it anyway), the film is unrelenting as it moves from scene to scene (think Syriana zapped by a cattle prod). Although Winterbottom alludes to the war on terror and gives the 'terrorists' a voice and a reason for their actions, A Mighty Heart is, at its heart, an emotional, not a political drama; the front and centre Jolie understands this, and gives Winterbottom what he wants. It's not all about Jolie, however, as her co-actors match her in every scene: seasoned character actors like Patton and Khan turn in terrific performances. Almost everything works here, except for that title.

Review by Gavin Burke