The good news comes in the form of Angelina’s accent. It's good. And it helps, but the effect — I was left missing the real Mariane. I missed her Buddhism, and I missed her blackness. I think casting Jolie in this role was a big mistake. And the only thing that I can compare it to is Mel Gibson's Apocalypto (2006). If he had taken a role in his film, that would have been a mistake, too. One of the raves about that movie was the native cast. As for emotion here: it registers nada, zilch, zero, nothing that I could detect. It's style over substance as usual.
In the end there is no dessert with this dinner. Instead the audience is stuck with a predictable meltdown from Mariane when she learns of her husband's death.
That would be fine, but in this movie it is simply out of place. It doesn't fit with the cool documentary-drama style Winterbottom maintains throughout the film. While the directing of this movie would best be described as chop suey, there is a small fortune cookie with the meal. The fortune is good. It comes in the person of Irrfan Khan (The Namesake). He plays the Captain, the chief of Pakistan's counterterrorism unit. He steals the show. Overall, the cast in this movie holds its own. They do not upset the cart. My advice: wait for the DVD or read the book. My Grade: C-.
Rated: R for language
Genre: Drama
Run time 1:48 min
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Cast: Angelina Jolie, Dan Futterman, Irrfan Khan
Based on the book A Mighty Heart by Mariane Pearl
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