Tuesday, July 03, 2007

A Powerful Film

Radio Mom and I went to see "A Mighty Heart" a couple of nights ago. We both were mildly interested in the film until I read that the screenwriter is married to one of my favorite bloggers, Tales From The Park Side. She announced 2 weeks ago that her husband's movie was opening, and I was excited to go see it.

The movie is based on Mariane Pearl's eponymously titled memoir about the "brave life and death" of her husband, Daniel Pearl. Curiously enough, the majority of the movie takes place in the Karachi apartment Mariane and Daniel Pearl shared with his Wall Street Journal colleague, Asra Nomani, but the film really spans the globe – geographically and emotionally. We all know how tragically the story ended. The movie shows us how the story developed, through Mariane's eyes.

One evening, Daniel Pearl left his pregnant wife to meet with an elusive source, further research a story on the shoe-bomber, Richard Reid. Pearl never came home. What follows is Mariane's courageous search for her husband. We see the fetid, teeming streets of Karachi, Pakistan contrasted with the cool, elegance of the apartment; the quiet joy of the Pearls' Buddhist-Jewish wedding ceremony flung against the horror of kidnapping and terrorism.

Through it all, Angelina Jolie, as Mariane Pearl, comes across as unflinchingly devoted wife, and a dogged journalist. I am no fan of Ms. Jolie. I personally think she's traded on her beauty to advance her acting career. However, she gave a stunning performance in "A Mighty Heart." Radio Mom and I agreed that she'll get an Oscar nomination for this film and she would likely win. [The one, picky thing that bothered me through the whole film was her poor French accent; she needed a better voice coach, like the one Meryl Streep uses.] I've been a fan of Dan Futterman's since he appeared on TV's "Judging Amy". Although his on-screen part was small, he played it with great conviction and integrity.

Grab your tissues and your good friend and go see "A Mighty Heart". Bravo to John Orloff, the screenwriter for this film. I predict he's going to be nominated for an Oscar, too.

2 comments:

Paige said...

Aw, thanks for the props for me and John. Glad you liked it. As to your entirely understandable criticism-- Angelina was actually very accurately doing Mariane's accent--Mariane has an oddly inconsistent way of speaking which often careens between heavily Parisian to nearly New Yorker...there's no way for a viewer, really, to know it, but in fact, Angelina's voice was spot on. xx P

Anonymous said...

I wasn't sure I'd want to see this movie, but after reading your review I might give it a go. I'm a fan of Angelina Jolie's, thinking she sometimes gets a bad rap because of her beauty.