A Mighty Heart.

Daniel Pearl awaiting execution. 

I found British director Michael Winterbottom's detailed account of the search for Daniel Pearl, a kidnapped Wall Street journalist, a little one sided. A Mighty Heart (2007) was adapted from his wife’s memoirs of the same name. Supporters of Omar Sheikh abducted Daniel Pearl in Karachi in 2002; a British born militant who it's alleged was recruited by the British intelligence agency (MI6). He is also alleged to have links with the Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Pearl was taken by a political grouping calling itself The National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty who slit the journalist's throat and then beheaded him, cutting his body into ten pieces before burying it.

Mariane Pearl.

The only highlight of this predictable movie is the wonderful performance from Angelina Jolie as the French freelance journalist and author Mariane Pearl although it's a little short of her award winning performance given in Clint Eastwood's heart rendering Changeling (2008). The cinematography literally leaves you in the dark; the story lacks tension and has a set of characters that are impossible to warm too. But the most disappointing aspect is that the we are not given substantial reasons for the kidnapping other than the fact that Daniel Pearl was Jewish and is suspected of being a Mossad agent. Overall a very disappointing movie.