A Mighty Heart (2007) (2025)

Review by Lee ½

Review by blushcameron 1

Review by shookone ★★★

very much head-to-head with and counter draft to Winterbottoms Road to Guantanamo. the reenacted political position battle american imprisonment politics is met by this reconstructed Angelina Jolie starrer about the cruelties of terrorism. authenticity is what Winterbottom is after, editing like a crazed one news-style, CNN for the big screen, sober and tough to take in. Jolie gets her screen presence as omnipresent, rational alpha female.

of course the authenticity strategy has to be jinked eventually, at the latest when Jolie is unleashed and escalates with a cry letting the cinema shattered. the film meanwhile does judge aswell. the buddhist wedding and standing in of the kidnapped protagonist as jew is accompanied by the gruesome world of muslim pakistanis. even the "good" ones act in ambivalence. this is where you have to think Road to Guantanamo together with A Mighty Heart - two different positions in Winterbottoms "war on terrorism" double header.

Review by Andy Summers 🤠 ★★★½

Daniel Pearl was beheaded by cowards on the 1st February 2002 and his body cut up into ten pieces and buried in a shallow grave in Gadap. Killed because he was both Jewish and American, this film portrays the events leading up to his death.
When the Twin Towers in New York City were destroyed it changed the Western World's views on what terrorism really was, it was something that could touch anyone, anywhere.
A Mighty Heart is a film based on the memoirs of Mariane Pearl whose husband Daniel was kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan in 2002. Daniel was a Jewish/American reporter for The Wall Street Journal and this account of his abduction and the subsequent hunt for him…

Review by Stanley Scorsese ★★★½

Review by Joseph Eastmond ★★★★★ Liked

Review by Chad Hartigan ★★★★

Review by Coll Cav

Review by NateDrake96 ★★★

I watched this for the university!

Another movie based on a tragic event with solid performances and interesting story, but messy storytelling that made it a little less enjoyable. And also Angelina Jolie shows rather good acting skills and the film is a nice one-time watch, there was nothing particularly catchy in this film besides the premise and the details on the unfair fate of the journalist Daniel Pearl (R.I.P.).

Review by Varghese ★★★★½ Liked

A tightly constructed thriller with every actor firing on all cylinders. Angelina Jolie was a bold choice but this has to be her most understated performance along with her turn in Changeling. The ending is well known but it's the journey up to that point which matters. I was disheartened when i came to know that only few scenes were actually shot in the bustling city of Karachi which is a shame. If the political climate was more favorable more films would have had the opportunity to film there. Kudos to Irfan Khan who gives strong support. What happened to Daniel Pearl was a tragedy and shows that in spite of the best efforts of the law, they still could…

Review by loureviews ★★★½

There's no mystery to this film as we know kidnapped Jewish American Daniel Pearl was beheaded and his body desecrated in Pakistan: his only crime to be a journalist.

With a documentary feel this contains an excellent performance from a dressed-down Angelica Jolie as Mariana Pearl, determined to first find her husband and then deal with his memory and legacy for their unborn child.

Perhaps we have become immune to atrocities since the run of similar murders in recent years, but A Mighty Heart still punches hard where it needs to and, without extraneous drama, tells the story of Daniel's kidnap and murder without actually showing any of it - quite refreshing when beheading videos, even now, are just a computer click away.

Review by Kevin Cormier ★★★ Liked