A Mighty Heart
for horror violence, some sexual content and language.
Reviewed by: Maggie Hays
CONTRIBUTOR
| Moral Rating: | Average |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
|
| Primary Audience: | Adults |
| Genre: | War History Drama |
| Length: | 1 hr. 40 min. |
| Year of Release: | 2007 |
| USA Release: |
June 22, 2007 (wide—1,350 theaters) |
About Buddhism
Why I stopped following Buddha and started following Jesus Christ? Answer
About Islam
Fear, Anxiety and Worry… What does the Bible say? Answer
What is true love and how do you know when you have found it? Answer
| Featuring | Angelina Jolie, Dan Futterman, Archie Panjabi, Sajid Hasan, Aly Khan, Irfan Khan, Denis O'Hare, Will Patton |
| Director | Michael Winterbottom (“Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story,” “Code 46”) |
| Producer | Andrew Eaton, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner |
| Distributor |
 Paramount Pictures Corporation, a subsidiary of ViacomCBS |
“It was an event that shocked the world. This is the story you haven’t heard.”
Here’s what the distributor says about their film: “On January 23, 2002, Mariane Pearl’s world changed forever. Her husband Daniel, South Asia bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal, was researching a story on shoe bomber Richard Reid. The story drew them to Karachi where a go-between had promised access to an elusive source. As Danny left for the meeting, he told Mariane he might be late for dinner. He never returned.
In the face of death, Danny’s spirit of defiance and his unflinching belief in the power of journalism led Mariane to write about his disappearance, the intense effort to find him and his eventual murder in her memoir A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband Danny Pearl.
Six months pregnant when the ordeal began, she was carrying a son that Danny hoped to name Adam. She wrote the book to introduce Adam to the father he would never meet. Transcending religion, race and nationality, Mariane’s courageous desire to rise above the bitterness and hatred that continues to plague this post 9/11 world, serves as the purest expression of the joy of life she and Danny shared.”
REVIEW
I believe you will be affected by this film, which has a “docudrama feel” to it. This is the true story of the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl, American journalist in Pakistan after 9/11. His widow, Mariane (also a journalist), wrote her memoirs of the event and is convincingly played by Angelina Jolie. Even though we all know how things turn out, the movie is gripping early on and moves quickly.
Here is the “bad news” from a Christian perspective:
- There is plenty of bad language here, which earned it it’s R-rating. I actually lost count of the “F” words. The Lord’s name is profaned several times.
- There is one sexual scene of a married couple in bed, which is not graphic or prolonged, but children really need not view this—nor the rest of us for that matter.
- There is one torture sequence when they are trying to extract information about Pearl from a prisoner. This scene is not graphic, and the torture is implied, rather than visible.
Here is what I, coming from a Christian world-view, especially found frustrating (or sad) about this whole story, although it is, of course, based on fact:
- Mariane Pearl is a Buddhist, and she is shown chanting and practicing Buddhism in the movie.
- Islamic praying and culture is vividly and repeatedly shown in the movie.
- Danny Pearl was a Jew, but no adherence to Jewish religious beliefs or reliance on God are implied, in fact, at one point his wife states, “Danny is not a religious man.”
- I could see so many opportunities in this kidnapping to call upon God and cry out to Him for mercy and deliverance, but this never happened and this hopelessness grieved me, causing me to leave the theater in tears.
My humble predictions for this compelling film:
- It will make lots and lots of money.
- It will win Academy Awards.
- Angelina Jolie will walk away with the Oscar for her starring role as Mariane Pearl.
Violence: Moderate / Profanity: Heavy / Sex/Nudity: Mild
See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.
Average / 5
Ultimately, however, for reasons not quite clear to me, the movie left me unmoved. Perhaps it was the rather cold direction by Michael Winterbottom or the fact that I do not find Joli a particularly sympathetic actress, in spite of her obvious good intentions. She seemed to be playing Marianne by numbers rather than having the grasp of the character. The other thing that nagged is whether Pearl put himself in unnecessary danger, especially as he had a wife five months pregnant. So three out of five stars for this one.
Offensive / 3
Average / 5
My Ratings: Better than Average / 4½