A Mighty Heart (film)

Infobox Film
name = A Mighty Heart


caption = Promotional movie poster for the film
director = Michael Winterbottom
producer = Brad Pitt
Andrew Eaton
Dede Gardner
writer = Mariane Pearl (memoir)
Sara Crichton (story) John Orloff (screenplay)
narrator =
starring = Angelina Jolie
Dan Futterman
Will Patton
Irfan Khan

music =
cinematography = Marcel Zyskind
editing = Peter Christelis
distributor = Paramount Vantage
released = 2007
runtime =
country = USA
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website = http://www.amightyheartmovie.com
amg_id = 1:355218
imdb_id = 0829459

"A Mighty Heart" is a 2007 film directed by Michael Winterbottom; It is an adaptation of Mariane Pearl's memoir, "A Mighty Heart". [cite news | url=http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2006-10-09-mighty-heart-first-look_x.htm | title= Jolie and Pitt, with 'Heart' | work= USA Today|date=2006-10-10| author= Scott Bowles|accessdate=2007-06-07 ] [cite news|url=http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=72130|title=Angelina Jolie and Mariane Pearl discuss 'A Mighty Heart'|work=Turkish Daily News|date=2007-05-04|author=Agence France Presse|accessdate=2007-06-07] Although initially a financial failure, "A Mighty Heart" was met with relatively positive reviews from both critics and viewers alike

The film was released in North America on June 22 2007..

tory

"A Mighty Heart" is a detailed account of the search for kidnapped "Wall Street Journal" reportercite web |url= http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003601970 |title= 'WSJ' Editors Call 'A Mighty Heart' Fair and Accurate |author= Joe Strupp |format= html |work= Editor & Publisher |date= 21 June 2007 |quote= "It was an accurate portrayal of the Journal and I think the Journal's people, like [then-foreign editor] John Bussey, who were deeply involved came off well as they should have," said former managing editor Paul Steiger, who said he saw the movie recently in a private showing for Journal staffers. "I think Angelina Jolie captured Mariane very, very well." Managing Editor Marcus Brauchli, who took over for Steiger and was national editor at the time of Pearl's death, also believed the film was fair. "I don't feel that the Journal was portrayed badly in the film," he said. "I think we were treated reasonably. Angelina Jolie did a good job of channeling Mariane." ] Daniel Pearl in 2002.

Pearl was kidnapped in Karachi by supporters of Omar Sheikh, who claimed responsibility (and was later captured and convicted but is appealing the ruling) for kidnapping and beheading Pearl in 2002. The movie also covers efforts by Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) to track the kidnappers and bring them to justice.

Cast

*Dan Futterman as Daniel Pearl
*Angelina Jolie as Mariane Pearl
*Will Patton as Special Agent Randall Bennett, Diplomatic Security Service
*Archie Panjabi as Asra Nomani
*Irfan Khan as Captain CID
*Azfar Ali as Azfar
*Jillian Armenante as Maureen Platt
*Zachary Coffin as Matt MacDowell
*Demetri Goritsas as John Skelton
*Sajid Hasan as Zubair
*Mikail Lotia as Hasan
*Denis O'Hare as Bussey
*Ali Khan as Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh/Bashir
*Adnan Siddiqui as Dost Alishani
*Sean Chapman as US Journalist

Production

A Mighty Heart was filmed in India, France and Pakistan, during the summer and fall of 2006 [cite web|url=http://madeinatlantis.com/movies_central/2007/mighty_heart_production_details.htm |title=A Mighty Heart Full Production Notes] .

Box office performance

"A Mighty Heart" was not a huge financial success initially, earning a total revenue of $18 million in box office compared to its production budget of $17 million cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mightyheart.htm |title=A Mighty Heart (2007) |accessdate=2007-11-03 |publisher=Box Office Mojo] . The film opened June 22, 2007 in the United States and Canada and grossed $3.9 million in 1,355 theaters its opening weekend, ranking #10 at the box office. "A Mighty Heart" went on to gross $18,727,125 worldwide.cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mightyheart.htm |title=A Mighty Heart (2007) |accessdate=2007-11-03 |publisher=Box Office Mojo] As of December 16, the film has grossed an additional $23.3 million dollars in DVD/VHS sales and rentals in the United StatesFact|date=April 2008. It has successfully made 3 times its production costs to date.

Critical reception

The film received generally favorable reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 77% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 175 reviews. [cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mighty_heart/ |title=A Mighty Heart - Rotten Tomatoes |accessdate=2008-01-05 |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 74 out of 100, based on 38 reviews. [cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/mightyheart |title=Mighty Heart, A (2007): Reviews |accessdate=2008-01-05 |publisher=Metacritic]

The film received very positive reviews from Roger Ebert and Larry King in reaction to Angelina Jolie's leading role. The film was described by "Newsweek" as "a movie without melodrama or movie-star lighting…allowing Jolie to deliver the most delicate, powerful and human-scale performance of her career." Jolie’s performance was widely touted by top critics as her finest artistic achievement to date.cite news |url= http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19263097/site/newsweek/page/4/print/1/displaymode/1098
title= Angelina Jolie wants to save the world |work= Newsweek |date= 25 June 2007 |author= Sean Smith | accessdate=2007-07-24 |quote=a movie without melodrama or movie-star lighting…allowing Jolie to deliver the most delicate, powerful and human-scale performance of her career. ]

The film has been reviewed by, among others, "Variety,"cite news |url= http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=cannes2007&jump=review&reviewid=VE1117933711 |title= A Mighty Heart: Cannes Film Festival Review |work= Variety |date= 21 May 2007 |author= Justin Chang | accessdate=2007-06-16 |quote= In his first studio venture, Michael Winterbottom coaxes forth a staggering wealth of detail from this terse, methodical account. ] "Rolling Stone,"cite news |url= http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/13097460/review/15101746/a_mighty_heart |title= A Mighty Heart |author= Peter Travers |format= html |work= Rolling Stone |accessdate= 2007-06-16 |quote= ] "Salon.com,"cite web |url= http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/review/2007/05/21/cannes_5/ |title= Beyond the Multiplex |author= Andrew O'Hehir |format= html |work= Salon.com |date= 21 May 2007 |accessdate= 2007-06-16 |quote= Jolie's performance is restrained and dignified, and with her hair in Mediterranean curls, she actually bears a strong resemblance to Pearl, a Parisian woman of mixed racial heritage. (Winterbottom has observed that trying to find an actress who was half Dutch, a quarter Cuban and a quarter Chinese was not realistic.) ] "Hollywood Reporter,"cite news |url= http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film/reviews/article_display.jsp?&rid=9249 |title= Review: 'A Mighty Heart' |author= Ray Bennett |format= html |work= The Hollywood Reporter |date= 22 May 2007| accessdate=2007-06-16 |quote= With the BBC's Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston now missing and believed kidnapped for 70 days and journalists in danger in hotspots worldwide, a film version of Mariane Pearl's book about the search for her husband could not be more timely… the film reflects the dispassionate view espoused by Mariane Pearl, who sees that it is misery that breeds terrorism. Jolie plays her with respect and a firm grasp on a difficult accent influenced by France and Cuba. ] and "Entertainment Weekly."cite news |url= http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20042379,00.html |title= Movie Review: A Mighty Heart |author= Lisa Schwarzbaum |format= html |work= Entertainment Weekly |date= 13 June 2007 |accessdate= 2007-06-16 |quote= ]

Marc Mohan of "The Oregonian" named it the 10th best film of 2007. [cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/film/awards/2007/toptens.shtml |title=Metacritic: 2007 Film Critic Top Ten Lists |accessdate=2008-01-05 |publisher=Metacritic]

Criticism

Asra Nomani, a colleague [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/22/AR2007062201673.html?hpid=opinionsbox2 "A Mighty Shame"] by Asra Q. Nomani, "The Washington Post" opinion, June 24, 2007] of Daniel Pearl who had agreed to participate in the film, stated that the film failed to portray Pearl in favor of creating a dramatic arc of "ordinary heroes," in reaction to which she believes Pearl would have "rolled his eyes." She described her reaction: "For me, watching the movie was like having people enter my home, rearrange the furniture and reprogram my memory."

The announcement of the casting of Angelina Jolie in the role of Mariane Pearl drew criticism within the African American community. [cite news |url= http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14157112/|title= Angelina Jolie sparks casting controversy |date= 2 August 2006 |accessdate= 2007-12-02 ] Orville Lloyd Douglas, a pop critic, has criticized the castingcite news |url= http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1501119/story.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10444455&pnum=0 |title= Shades of blackface |author= Orville Lloyd Douglas |format= html |work= The New Zealand Herald |date= 9 June 2007 |accessdate= 2007-06-19 |quote= When Angelina Jolie was cast to play Marianne Pearl in the biopic film A Mighty Heart there was an uproar by the African American community. Jolie is white whereas Pearl - widow of journalist Daniel Pearl who was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in Pakistan in 2002 - is a biracial woman of Afro-Cuban heritage with her mother Marita Van Neyenhoff being black. ] because, he said, "Jolie is white" and Mariane Pearl is "biracial." In fact, Pearl is the multi-racial daughter of a Dutch-Jewish father and an Afro-Chinese-Cuban mother.cite web |url= http://www.glamour.com/news/feature/articles/2006/07/10/womanstrength |title= The woman who gave me my strength |author= Mariane Pearl |work= Glamour magazine |date= August 2006 Note: this article is also on the Institute for Jewish & Community Research website ( [http://www.jewishresearch.org/BL_archives/9_06BL.htm#Woman link] ).] cite web |url= http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1002/p15s02-bogn.html?s=widep |title= Collateral Damage |author= Heller McAlpin |work= Christian Science Monitor |date= 2 October 2003 ] cite web |url= http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/review/2007/05/21/cannes_5/ |title= Beyond the Multiplex |author= Andrew O'Hehir |work= Salon.com |date= 21 May 2007 |accessdate= 2007-06-16 ]
Mariane Pearl personally chose Angelina Jolie to play the lead in "A Mighty Heart". [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1635834,00.html 10 Questions for Mariane Pearl] by Carolyn Sayre, "Time" Q&A June 21, 2007] In response to casting complaints, Mariane Pearl said "I have heard some criticism about her casting, but it is not about the color of your skin. It is about who you are. I asked her to play the role--even though she is way more beautiful than I am--because I felt a real kinship to her. She put her whole heart into it, and I think she understood why we should do this movie. We had something to say that we knew we should say together."

Awards

On November 27, 2007, the film was nominated for 3 Independent Spirit Awards including Best Screenplay, Best Actress and Best Picture of the Year.

Jolie was nominated for a Teen Choice Award for "Best Movie Actress: Drama", but lost to Jennifer Hudson of Dreamgirls. She was also nominated for a Golden Satellite Award for "Best Movie Actress: Drama" [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0829459/awards A Mighty Heart (2007) - Awards ] ] and received an Outstanding Performance of the Year Award for her performance from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling said, "We are honored to celebrate Ms. Jolie in what is arguably one of the most extraordinary female roles of the year". [ [http://www.sbiff.org/news/?p=32 » Blog Archive » ANGELINA JOLIE TO RECEIVE OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE HONOR AT 23RD SANTA BARBARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ] ]

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0829459|title=A Mighty Heart
*rotten-tomatoes|id=mighty_heart|title=A Mighty Heart
*metacritic film|id=mightyheart|title=A Mighty Heart
*mojo title|id=mightyheart|title=A Mighty Heart
*amg movie|id=1:355218|title=A Mighty Heart
* [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/film_reviews/article2490218.ece "The Times" film review]
* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18833893/ Angelina Jolie talks about the challenges of playing Mariane Pearl] at MSNBC.com
* [http://www.tobloggle.co.uk/a-mighty-heart-review/ Review of "A Mighty Heart" along with trailer]