A Mighty Heart DVD Review

In depicting one woman's unwavering pursuit to confront and surmount her husband's unconscionable fate, Angelina Jolie portrays Mariane Pearl, the wife of slain journalist Daniel Pearl, in A Mighty Heart.

Now available on DVD, this film depicts Pearl's agonizing perspective during efforts to locate her husband, who wrote for the Wall Street Journal, after he was taken hostage in Pakistan and ultimately executed by a terrorist sect in 2002.

In a tour de force performance, Jolie immerses herself into the role of Mariane Pearl with absolute conviction. In tense circumstances, embroiled in government policies and rampant cultural misconceptions, Jolie's character neither questions her husband's journalistic ideals and intentions nor falters in defending them. Furthermore, and what is perhaps most impressive, she never shows a crack in her composure throughout the ordeal until her husband's horrific fate is confirmed. Even then, however, she remains a shining example of strength and principle. "Their purpose is to terrorize," she emphatically says of the perpetrators. "I am not terrorized."

Scenes shift and progress at often fractured and frenetic paces with indicative nuance, which encourage repeated viewings, thus making the DVD this film's ideal format. One can fully appreciate the minutiae of this movie on DVD in ways that may not have been altogether apparent during its theatrical release.

Rounding out the disc with supplemental material, foremost, is an enlightening thirty-minute documentary entitled, "Journey of Passion: The Making of A Mighty Heart." Insightful commentaries by the film's director and principal cast members offer a sense of context and cohesiveness not only to the creation of the film, but also to the literal events and individuals it represents.

Additionally, an informative video addressing the founding and function of the Committee to Protect Journalists details how this organization aims to defend journalists from unwarranted persecution in vulnerable parts of the world. Another bonus feature has noted journalist Christiane Amanpour delivering an impassioned public service announcement on behalf of the Daniel Pearl Foundation, a non-profit organization formed in the late journalist's honor.

Considering its cinematic quality alone, A Mighty Heart stands as a riveting and poignant film. And while each cast member contributes a vital component to the cumulative picture, Angelina Jolie delivers one of the finest, if not the finest, performance in her career to date.

Considering what this film represents and the woman whose perspective is portrayed, the overall impact of the picture increases. Even in its most dire moments, A Mighty Heart conveys Mariane Pearl's enduring fortitude while coping with devastating grief. Her resilience not only honors the spirit of her husband, it effectively turns her personal response to tragedy into a universal tale of triumph.