Movies

Michael Winterbottom brings us the true story of Daniel Pearl (Dan Futterman). It's January 2002, the Wall Street Journal reporter was captured by terrorists when he arranged an interview with a fundamentalist cleric. His wife Mariane (Angelina Jolie) immediately initiates a frantic search.Two things stand out in this movie. The eerie realism and the scary setting this movie exists in. The Pakistani part of the movie is especially stunning. You can almost feel the energy coming from the streets. The second is Angelina Jolie. She really transform herself, and shows that she is a real actress with skills.

A MIGHTY HEART (2007) ***1/2 Angelina Jolie, Dan Futterman, Archie Panjabi, Irfan Khan, Will Patton, Denis O' Hare. Absorbing, first-rate adaptation of the book based on Mariane Pearl's (Jolie, in her best work since she won the Oscar and deserving another nod here for her stoic, fierce performance), book about the horrible kidnapping and ultimate murder of her husband (and fellow journalist) Daniel (Futterman does his best in fleeting flashback heavy sequences) who was abducted by terrorists in Pakistan. Filmmaker Michael Winterbottom and screenwriter John Orloff eschew Hollywood theatrics for straightforward and intelligent with a very well produced storyline and a fine ensemble cast particularly Indian actor Khan as "the Captain", a local policeman spearheading the grim task of saving the doomed writer. One of the year's best films.

This movie did not have enough substance to deserve a theater release in my opinion. I could see this as A Lifetime TV movie of the week. The highlight was Anglina Jolie. She did a great acting job in this. Also I think the movie was released too long after the actual event. I didn't remember much about this case on the news. I just mainly remember a reporter was kidnapped and beheaded when demands weren't met. It should have been released maybe 3 years after the fact. And all the filler with the police tracing down leads was boring since you know they don't find Danny.FINAL VERDICT: The only reason to watch this is if you really like Anglina Jolie.