| A Mighty Heart | 
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| Director: Michael Winterbottom
Actors: Angelina Jolie, Dan Futterman, Irfan Khan, Archie Panjabi, Mohammed Afzal
Studio: Paramount Vantage
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.99
Buy Used: $1.80
You Save: $28.19 (94%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  41 reviews
Sales Rank: 8458
Format: Color, Dolby, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 108
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.5
MPN: PARD350524D
UPC: 097363505242
EAN: 0097363505242
ASIN: B000VBB6F6
Theatrical Release Date: June 22, 2007
Release Date: October 16, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 10/16/2007 Run time: 108 minutes Rating: R
Amazon.com
A Mighty Heart comes at the murder of journalist Daniel Pearl with a de-glamorized intensity: it's not a melodrama about Pearl's kidnapping and killing at the hands of Islamic terrorists, but a near-documentary about the process of trying to find him. Thus the center of the film is not Pearl (Dan Futterman) but his wife Mariane (Angelina Jolie), a cool customer who manages--almost--to maintain her calm throughout the weeks-long ordeal. Director Michael Winterbottom is less overtly political here than in his Road to Guantanamo, although the reactions of various authorities, from U.S. officials to local Pakistani cops, give the flavor of different attitudes and approaches. Jolie, playing the Dutch-Afro-Cuban Mariane Pearl, does nicely at playing her character's control (others marvel at her sangfroid), yet she remains recognizably human throughout. By no means a star turn, the movie leaves Mariane for long stretches, and other actors shine: Irfan Khan as a detective, Denis O'Hare as Daniel Pearl's Washington Post editor, and Will Patton as a stymied diplomat. As engrossing as the movie generally is, the point of emphasizing the police-procedural method is sometimes obscure. Oddly enough, by rejecting the usual string-pulling of conventional Hollywood drama, A Mighty Heart ends up without a strong point of view--as good as its pieces are. --Robert Horton
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| Customer Reviews: Read 36 more reviews...
 Rather flat retelling of a story we know October 28, 2008
The story of Wall Street Journal newsman Danny Pearl is know in its outlines, culminating in his kidnapping and brutal murder in 2002. "A Mighty Heart" brings the story to life by allowing us to accompany Mariane Pearl, Danny's French-born journalist wife, as she agonizes over her husband's abduction. Angelina Jolie does a creditable, if one-dimensional, job of portraying Mariane's courage and anguish, as well as the attempts of WSJ editors, FBI and Pakistani authorities to track down Danny's whereabouts before his kidnappers take irrevocable action. The film manages to inject an bit of drama into the story, though (truth be told) knowing the outcome sucked a lot of the air out of the film's suspense factor. There is little drama in the efforts of the searchers. Pakistani special forces are portrayed as genuinely interested in helping Mariane find Danny. And Danny is portrayed (in flashbacks) as appropriately cautious in tracking own leads for a story. Predictably, he and Mariane (expecting their first child) have a perfect and loving relationship. Gone is the smirky, smart aleck that the real Pearl projected, even in his kidnap photos. And what of the killers -- why did they act the way they did? A better film might have, like "Munich," attempted to flesh out their grievances. The film shied away from a good-guy-bad-guy approach, hinting only distractedly at inter-agency dynamics that might have hobbled the hunt. Cinematically, the film was gorgeous, with terrific backlit shots, including those of Jolie in her grief. The film is worthwhile to provide images for a better telling of the details of the hunt for Danny's killers.
Though wonderfully shot, "A Mighty Heart" falls a beat or two short of being riveting.
 A Mighty Motion Picture October 27, 2008
Angelina Jolie stars in the story of the terrorist kidnapping of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. She plays Mariane Pearl, Daniel's wife, and much of the movie centers around her efforts to find her husband, before it is too late. One needs to pay attention, as it is a little difficult to follow all the leads in the kidnapping, good and bad. Definitely worth the time. The story more than held my attention. In fact, it was like a book that one cannot put down.
Bleeding Love October 22, 2008
Aside from the disturbing subject matter, A Mighty Heart was done very well. They handled the tragedy of Daniel Pearl's murder in a non-exploitative manner. You sort of have to be a "news" person or in some way be fascinated with the 9/11 genre to really be entertained by this film. A Mighty Heart not only focuses on the timeline story of what happened but also includes alot of intoxicating viniettes of the city street life in Pakistan. It gives you a glimpse inside a world many of us will never get to see. I think A Mighty Heart is one of Angelina Jolie's best films and most captivating performances. Her only other notable good films are Gia and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. For the slew of films about the 9/11 and Iraq war genres, A Mighty Heart and United 93 are about the best you will see concerning the issue.
interesting drama that could use some fleshing out September 7, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
***1/2
Daniel Pearl was, of course, the foreign correspondent for the "Wall Street Journal" who was kidnapped and brutally executed by a group of Muslim jihadists whom he had sought out for an interview in early 2002. His wife, Marianne, also a journalist and pregnant with their child at the time, later went on to publish a chronicle of that event, appropriately entitled "A Mighty Heart."
Adapted by John Orloff and starring Angelina Jolie and Dan Futterman in the principal roles, the movie of the same name chronicles the efforts of Marianne and those around her to uncover her husband's whereabouts and to try to rescue him before the terrorists have the chance to make good on their threat to liquidate him, if their demands - for improved conditions for the prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay - are not met. Directed by Michael Winterbottom, the movie does a solid job recreating the step-by-step process by which those working on the case were able to identify, and even apprehend, some of the captors. But so intent is the movie on exploring every last detail of the search that the characters themselves tend to fall by the wayside at times. This includes Marianne who, beautifully as Jolie embodies her, often winds up being shunted off to the side when she should be taking center stage and making us care deeply about her and the plight she is facing. The format of the story is such that we are given only brief glimpses of Marianne and Daniel together and, in each case, they are invariably shown as deliriously happy and passionately in love, which no doubt they were, but it doesn't allow for much shading or depth in the relationship.
The movie is, of course, heartbreaking in its final scenes, as the story works its way to its foreordained tragic conclusion and Marianne is left to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. Yet, the extraordinary courage that both Daniel and Marianne display in being willing to put their own lives at risk in confronting the injustices of the world leaves the audience with a feeling of hope for the future.
Thus, despite its weaknesses of characterization and drama, "A Mighty Heart" still manages to move us in the end.
 A mighty heart August 17, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This movie was kinda long and drawn out(boring). Sorry I purchased it, might resell it. The only part of that movie that keeps poping up in my mind is when Daniel pearl was ask about 911. "Why so many jews didn't show up for work that day when the twin towers were hit". Why would the writer of this movie write a line such as this and put it in a movie? Is the writer truly trying to tell us something about the jews and 911?. Can jewish people be trusted? are they the true evils of this world, and the reason for the wars we face today?
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