Angelina Jolie, left, and Dan Futterman portray journalists Mariane and Daniel Pearl in A Mighty Heart. (Peter Mountain/Paramount Vantage)

From the heart

Angelina Jolie’s unsentimental turn in A Mighty Heart

Set in Pakistan in 2002, A Mighty Heart covers the weeks between the disappearance of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl and his infamous execution. As Pearl’s pregnant wife, Mariane, Angelina Jolie conveys restrained dignity in the face of overwhelming public scrutiny. Director Michael Winterbottom has delivered a fast, brusque film that taps into the kind of frenetic madness generated by a missing-persons case — albeit one with no hope of a tidy resolution.

By Katrina Onstad

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