Angelina Jolie, handpicked by Mrs. Pearl, stars in the film, and gives what may be her finest performance. She is not the usual sobbing hysterical wife out of control of herself in the face of such a tragedy; rather she remains cool, calculated, and incredibly strong. She is a woman who knows what is at stake and is able to control herself in the face of such a dire situation. Jolie commands your attention with her powerful and moving characterization. I know I stopped seeing Jolie and only saw Pearl; she disappeared into the role and centered the humanity of this story.
The film is shot in a way that looks very much like a documentary. We, the audience, are like flies on the wall, bearing witness to the investigation and the various personalities involved. It is a very intimate film as Michael Winterbottom gets us right in with the actors, lots of closeups, never letting us get a breather. It is a well crafted thriller that doesn't rely on action, gunfights, and explosions, but rather the human drama involved. I admit that there were many times that I could not keep the characters' names straight, but even without knowing the names, I never had any trouble following what they were trying to accomplish.
A Mighty Heart is a triumph of a film that gives us incredible human drama, a tense story that keeps you at attention, even knowing the ending, and is, at its heart, a story of the love between Mariane and Daniel. It is a movie that does not belittle what happened, nor does it aim to make Daniel or Mariane a hero; it does give us a story that is free of the politics that you would expect to see, and also aims to put focus on the continuing ongoing tragedies that are occuring in the Middle East.
Bottom line. This is a story that was only able to be brought to the big screen due to the involvement of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and to them I am thankful. Together with Winterbottom and screenwriter John Orloff, the film is dramatic, emotional, and well crafted. It does a great job of bringing Mrs. Pearl's story to the screen.
Recommended.
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