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.

Salt

Overlong, overblown and utterly forgettable Salt (2010) is a waste of the acting talent of Angelina Jolie (Check out Girl, Interrupted 1999, A Mighty Heart 2007 and Changeling 2008) she plays a character called Evelyn Salt who is accused of being a Russian sleeper agent and goes all out to try and clear her name. Seemingly a character that Tom Cruise was down to play but even he backed out along with the of two previous directors before Australian Phillip Noyce took control, Noyce can make a good movie for example the 1998 break through movie for Nicole Kidman Dead Calm, The Quiet American (2002) and Rabbit Proof Fence (2007), still I suppose we’ve all got to eat.

The Tourist

The maths teacher insists on this dance. 

With his second film Florian Henckel von Donnersmark has moved a long way from the politicized horrors of East Germany in my film of the year for 2006, The Lives of Others. His latest film pair’s for the first time Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie in what has been described as a romantic comedy action thriller and their lies the problem is it a romantic comedy or is it a action thriller? In my opinion it sadly lacks in either genre. The Tourist (2010), a remake of a 2005 French film Anthony Zimmer, casts Depp as a bumbling math’s teacher and tourist who is mistaken for super-thief Alexander Pearce wanted by Scotland Yard for tax evasion and by a nasty gangster whom Pearce has swindled out of a very large sum of money. Jolie plays Pearce’s love interest who falls for the math’s teacher need I go on?

The waters of Venice never looked more inviting1

Disappointing is probably the best way to describe my evening at the cinema one that originally promised some enjoyable escapist entertainment, at least according to the trailer. The whole thing was about as thrilling as a wet week in Bognor Regis (a seaside resort on the English south coast), the romance between the two, very attractive, leads generated zero chemistry and the action was embarrassing to say the least. The experienced cast including Paul Bettany, Timothy Dalton, Steven Berkoff as well as Depp where certainly not stretched while Jolie was nothing more than an attractive clothes horse! The films only redeeming factor was the beautiful overhead shots of Venice, you fully expected Michael Palin to pop up!