A Mighty Heart (film)

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A Mighty Heart
Promotional movie poster for the film
Directed byMichael Winterbottom
Written byMariane Pearl (memoir)
Sara Crichton (story) John Orloff (screenplay)
Produced byBrad Pitt
Andrew Eaton
Dede Gardner
StarringAngelina Jolie
Dan Futterman
Will Patton
Irfan Khan
CinematographyMarcel Zyskind
Edited byPeter Christelis
Distributed byParamount Vantage
Release date
2007
CountryUSA
LanguageEnglish

A Mighty Heart is a 2007 film directed by Michael Winterbottom; It is an adaptation of Mariane Pearl's memoir, A Mighty Heart.[1][2] Although 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.[3].

Story

A Mighty Heart is a detailed account of the search for kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter[4] 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

Production

A Mighty Heart was filmed in India, France and Pakistan, during the summer and fall of 2006[5].

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 [6]. 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.[6] As of December 16, the film has grossed an additional $23.3 million dollars in DVD/VHS sales and rentals in the United States[citation needed]. 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.[7] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 74 out of 100, based on 38 reviews.[8]

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.[9]

The film has been reviewed by, among others, Variety,[10] Rolling Stone,[11] Salon.com,[12] Hollywood Reporter,[3] and Entertainment Weekly.[13]

Marc Mohan of The Oregonian named it the 10th best film of 2007.[14]

Criticism

Asra Nomani, a colleague[15] 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.[16] Orville Lloyd Douglas, a pop critic, has criticized the casting[17] 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.[18][19][12] Mariane Pearl personally chose Angelina Jolie to play the lead in A Mighty Heart.[20] 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." [20]

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[21] 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".[22]

Award Category Nominee Won
65th Golden Globe Awards[23] 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[24] Favorite Independent Movie Nominated

References

  1. ^ Scott Bowles (2006-10-10). "Jolie and Pitt, with 'Heart'". USA Today. Retrieved 2007-06-07.
  2. ^ Agence France Presse (2007-05-04). "Angelina Jolie and Mariane Pearl discuss 'A Mighty Heart'". Turkish Daily News. Retrieved 2007-06-07.
  3. ^ a b Ray Bennett (22 May 2007). "Review: 'A Mighty Heart'" (html). The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2007-06-16. 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. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Joe Strupp (21 June 2007). "'WSJ' Editors Call 'A Mighty Heart' Fair and Accurate" (html). Editor & Publisher. 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. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "A Mighty Heart Full Production Notes".
  6. ^ a b "A Mighty Heart (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  7. ^ "A Mighty Heart - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
  8. ^ "Mighty Heart, A (2007): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
  9. ^ Sean Smith (25 June 2007). "Angelina Jolie wants to save the world". Newsweek. Retrieved 2007-07-24. a movie without melodrama or movie-star lighting…allowing Jolie to deliver the most delicate, powerful and human-scale performance of her career. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ Justin Chang (21 May 2007). "A Mighty Heart: [[Cannes Film Festival]] Review". Variety. Retrieved 2007-06-16. In his first studio venture, Michael Winterbottom coaxes forth a staggering wealth of detail from this terse, methodical account. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  11. ^ Peter Travers. "A Mighty Heart" (html). Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-06-16.
  12. ^ a b Andrew O'Hehir (21 May 2007). "Beyond the Multiplex" (html). Salon.com. Retrieved 2007-06-16. 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.) {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) Cite error: The named reference "O'Hehir" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  13. ^ Lisa Schwarzbaum (13 June 2007). "Movie Review: A Mighty Heart" (html). Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2007-06-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ "Metacritic: 2007 Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
  15. ^ "A Mighty Shame" by Asra Q. Nomani, The Washington Post opinion, June 24, 2007
  16. ^ "Angelina Jolie sparks casting controversy". 2 August 2006. Retrieved 2007-12-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ Orville Lloyd Douglas (9 June 2007). "Shades of blackface" (html). The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2007-06-19. 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. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ Mariane Pearl (August 2006). "The woman who gave me my strength". Glamour magazine. Note: this article is also on the Institute for Jewish & Community Research website (link).
  19. ^ Heller McAlpin (2 October 2003). "Collateral Damage". Christian Science Monitor. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ a b 10 Questions for Mariane Pearl by Carolyn Sayre, Time Q&A June 21, 2007
  21. ^ A Mighty Heart (2007) - Awards
  22. ^ » Blog Archive » ANGELINA JOLIE TO RECEIVE OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE HONOR AT 23RD SANTA BARBARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
  23. ^ "HOLLYWOOD FOREIGN PRESS ASSOCIATION 2008 GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2007". goldenglobes.org. 2007-12-13. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
  24. ^ "People's Choice Awards Past Winners: 2008". PCAvote.com. Sycamore Productions. Retrieved 2008-01-10.

External links

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