On the Big Board |
| Position |
Staff |
In Brief |
| 25/50 |
Michael Bentley |
Some good performances, particularly Jolie, and manages to be thrilling despite the obvious ending. Though some of the investigative aspects are rushed and rather confusing. |
| 89/214 |
Max Braden |
Interesting, kind of like The Kingdom without the action. |
Based on a book by Mariane Pearl, A Mighty Heart details the horrible events surrounding the death of the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped and murdered by a militant Pakistani group.
On January 23, 2002, Pearl was working on an investigation of the case of shoe bomber Richard Reid as well as potential links between Al Qaeda and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence. While he was on his way to interview an alleged terrorist leader, Pearl was kidnapped by a group that called itself he National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty. They claimed that Pearl was a CIA agent, and sent the United States government a large list of demands that amounted to ransom. Included in these demands were a demand to free all Pakistani terror detainees and to stop shipping F-16 fighter jets to the Pakastani government. The people who held Pearl hostage said that he would be killed in a day if their demands were not met.
Despite pleas from both the U.S. government and Pearl's wife Mariane, the kidnappers decapitated Pearl after holding him for nine days. A few weeks later, they released video of his death.
In tribute to his belief in his work and amazing qualities as a human being, his wife wrote the book A Mighty Heart. Sadly, at the time of his death, his wife was pregnant and his son will never have the chance to know his father. Mariane's goal was to preserve his life in such a way that their child could know him as she did. She will be portrayed by Angelina Jolie in the theatrical adaptation of her work, which is directed by auteur Michael Winterbottom. Look for the film to receive some substantial attention on its release. (Kim Hollis/BOP)
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