Running time: 108 minutes
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Dan Futterman, Archie Panjabi, Mohammed Afzal
Rating 4 out of 10
For all of its good intentions, A Mighty Heart is Michael Winterbottom's weakest film for some time. It was no real surprise that Angelina Jolie handpicked the prolific Englishman for the job as two of his recent films - In This World and The Road to Guantanamo - showed that he is one of the few working directors to tackle the complex issue of modern terrorism head-on. But here however he is in something of a directorial strait jacket, encumbered by the source material and appeasing the world's most famous actress. Part of the problem is that there are likely to be very few members of the audience who don't know the story of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal writer who was kidnapped in Karachi in 2002, and whose subsequent beheading was seen by millions around the world on the internet. As with any reconstruction of actual events, it is the job of the director and writer to imbue proceedings with surprising facts, twists or tensions.
Instead, the source material - based on the book by Pearl's widow Mariane - provides nothing more than endless scenes of her holed up in her flat awaiting the inevitable. She is increasingly surrounded by a number of bureaucrats from several organisations, and her world is one of utter confusion. This may well demonstrate the complex issues she faced, but it makes it very hard for the audience to keep track of what is going on.
Jolie's performance dominates proceedings, but it all seems to lead to inevitable scream moment when her worst fears are realised.
Winterbottom does his customary good job in filming on location, but there is little new to glean from a movie that seems to last much longer than its actual running time.
Paul Hurley
