| A Mighty Heart | |
|---|---|
Promotional poster |
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| Directed by | Michael Winterbottom |
| Produced by | Brad Pitt Andrew Eaton Dede Gardner |
| Screenplay by | John Orloff |
| Story by | Sara Crichton |
| Based on | A Mighty Heart by Mariane Pearl |
| Starring | Angelina Jolie Dan Futterman Will Patton Archie Panjabi Irfan Khan |
| Music by | Harry Escott Molly Nyman |
| Cinematography | Marcel Zyskind |
| Editing by | Peter Christelis |
| Distributed by | Paramount Vantage |
| Release date(s) | June 22, 2007 |
| Running time | 108 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $16 million |
| Box office | $18,935,657 |
A Mighty Heart is a 2007 drama film directed by Michael Winterbottom; It is an adaptation of Mariane Pearl's memoir, A Mighty Heart.[1][2] Although initially a financial failure, A Mighty Heart was met with relatively positive reviews from both critics and viewers alike.
The film was screened out of competition at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival,[3] before being released in North America on June 22, 2007.[4]
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A Mighty Heart is a detailed account of the search for kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter[5] 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.
A Mighty Heart was filmed in France and India, during the summer and fall of 2006.[6] Fearing safety of the film crew, the Karachi-scenes were shot in Mumbai, India.
A Mighty Heart performed poorly at the box office, earning a total revenue of $18 million in box office compared to its production budget of $17 million.[7] 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. It went on to gross $18,727,125 worldwide.[7] As of December 16, the film has grossed an additional $5.4 million dollars in DVD/VHS sales and rentals in the United States.[8]
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.[9] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 74 out of 100, based on 38 reviews.[10]
Jolie's performance was widely touted by top critics as her finest artistic achievement to date. Both she and the film received a positive review from Roger Ebert.[11] 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."[12] Other favorable reviewers included Peter Travers of Rolling Stone,[13] Justin Chang of Variety[14] and Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter.[4] Marc Mohan of The Oregonian named it the 10th best film of 2007.[15]
However, Andrew O'Hehir, film critic for Salon.com, while finding Jolie's performance "restrained and dignified", dismissed the film itself, writing, "it feels like an extra-long episode of 24 with a bad conscience and a bad ending."[16] Entertainment Weekly's Lisa Schwarzbaum felt that Jolie's celebrity was a problem, commenting that "Despite the best of intentions, an actress who makes her own headlines gets in the way of the big picture."[17]
Asra Nomani, a colleague of Daniel Pearl's 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."[18]
The announcement of the casting of Angelina Jolie in the role of Mariane Pearl drew criticism within the African American community.[19] Orville Lloyd Douglas, a pop critic, has criticized the casting[20] because, he said, "Jolie is white" and Mariane Pearl is "mixed race". In fact, Pearl is the multi-racial daughter of a Dutch-Jewish father and an Afro-Chinese-Cuban mother.[16][21][22] Pearl personally chose Jolie to play the lead in A Mighty Heart.[23] In response to casting complaints, 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."[23]
On November 27, 2007, the film was nominated for three 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. She was also nominated for a Golden Satellite Award for Best Movie Actress: Drama[24] 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".[25]
| Award | Category | Nominee | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| 65th Golden Globe Awards[26] | Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama | Angelina Jolie | Nominated |
| Screen Actors Guild Awards | Best Actress | Angelina Jolie | Nominated |
| Golden Satellite Awards | Best Actress | Angelina Jolie | Nominated |
| Independent Spirit Awards | Best Actress (Female Lead) | Angelina Jolie | Nominated |
| Best Film (Feature) | Nominated | ||
| Best First Screenplay | John Orloff | Nominated | |
| Teen Choice Awards | Best Actress - Drama | Angelina Jolie | Nominated |
| 34th People's Choice Awards[27] | Favorite Independent Movie | Nominated | |
| Cannes Film Festival | Chopard Trophy | Archie Panjabi | Won |
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