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{{Short description|2007 drama film directed by Michael Winterbottom}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = A Mighty Heart
| image          = Mighty heartmp.jpg
| border         = yes
| caption        = Promotional poster
| director       = [[Michael Winterbottom]]
| producer       = {{plainlist|
* [[Brad Pitt]]
* [[Dede Gardner]]
* [[Andrew Eaton]]
}}
| screenplay     = [[John Orloff]]
| based_on       = {{Based on|''[[A Mighty Heart]]''|[[Mariane Pearl]]}}
| starring       = {{plainlist|
* [[Angelina Jolie]]
* [[Dan Futterman]]
* [[Irrfan Khan]]
* [[Archie Panjabi]]
* [[Will Patton]]
}}
| music          = {{plainlist|
* [[Molly Nyman]]
* [[Harry Escott]]
}}
| cinematography = Marcel Zyskind
| editing        = Peter Christelis
| studio         = {{plainlist|
* [[Plan B Entertainment]]
* [[Revolution Films]]
}}
| distributor    = [[Paramount Vantage]]
| released       = {{Film date|2007|6|22}}
| runtime        = 108&nbsp;minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $16 million
| gross          = $18.9 million
}}
'''''A Mighty Heart''''' is a 2007 [[drama film]] directed by [[Michael Winterbottom]] from a screenplay by [[John Orloff]]. It is based on the 2003 memoir [[A Mighty Heart|of the same name]] by [[Mariane Pearl]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2006-10-09-mighty-heart-first-look_x.htm | title= Jolie and Pitt, with 'Heart' | work=[[USA Today]]|date=2006-10-10| author= Scott Bowles|access-date=2007-06-07 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=72130 |title=Angelina Jolie and Mariane Pearl discuss 'A Mighty Heart' |work=[[Turkish Daily News]] |date=2007-05-04 |author=Agence France Presse |author-link=Agence France Presse |access-date=2007-06-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930155412/http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=72130 |archive-date=2007-09-30 }}</ref>

The film was screened out of competition at the [[2007 Cannes Film Festival]],<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/4431903/year/2007.html |title=Festival de Cannes: A Mighty Heart |access-date=2009-12-20|work=festival-cannes.com}}</ref> before being released in North America on June 22, 2007.<ref name="Bennett"/> ''A Mighty Heart'' was met with positive reviews from critics.

==Plot==
''A Mighty Heart'' is a detailed account of the search for kidnapped ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'' reporter<ref name="Strupp">{{cite web |url= http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003601970 |title= 'WSJ' Editors Call 'A Mighty Heart' Fair and Accurate |author= Joe Strupp |work= [[Editor & Publisher]] |date= 21 June 2007 |quote= "It was an accurate portrayal of the [[Wall Street Journal|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 recalled 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." }}</ref> [[Daniel Pearl]] in 2002.

Pearl was [[Kidnapping|kidnapped]] in [[Karachi]] by supporters of [[Omar Sheikh]]. The movie also covers efforts by [[Law enforcement in Pakistan|Pakistan's Security Forces]], [[United States Department of Justice|Department of Justice]] and the U.S. Department of State's [[Diplomatic Security Service]] (DSS) to track the kidnappers and bring them to justice. Sheikh claimed responsibility for kidnapping and beheading Pearl in 2002. He was captured and convicted but is appealing the ruling.

==Cast==
* [[Dan Futterman]] as [[Daniel Pearl]]
* [[Angelina Jolie]] as [[Mariane Pearl]]
* [[Will Patton]] as Randall Bennett, Special Agent [[Diplomatic Security Service|U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS)]]
* [[Alyy Khan]] as [[Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh|Sheikh Omar]]/Bashir
* [[Archie Panjabi]] as [[Asra Nomani]]
* [[Irrfan Khan]] in film as Javid Habib, [[ Senior Superintendent of Police|SSP]] [[Crime Investigation Department (Pakistan)|CID]], [[Karachi]] (Character based on Zeeshan Kazmi, [[Karachi]] Police Chief)
* [[Adnan Siddiqui]] as Dost Aliani
* William Hoyland as John Bauman, U.S. Consul-General
* [[Denis O'Hare]] as John Bussey Wall Street Journal Foreign Editor
* [[Bilal Saeed]] as [[Moinuddin Haider]], [[Interior Minister of Pakistan]]
* Shah Murad Aliani as [[Amjad Farooqi]]
* Ahmed A. Jamal as [[Khalid Khawaja]], Pakistani Air Force member of [[Inter-Services Intelligence|ISI]]
* Daud Khan as [[Maulana Masood Azhar|Masud the Fixer]], founder of [[Jaish-e-Mohammed]] and mentor to Sheikh Omar
* Ikram Bhatti as [[Mubarak Ali Gilani|Sheikh Gilani]], Cleric & founder of [[Jamaat ul-Fuqra]]
* Jeffry Kaplow as [[Judea Pearl]]
* Perrine Moran as Ruth Pearl
* Azfar Ali as Azfar
* [[Imran Hasnee]] as Journalist
* [[Jillian Armenante]] as Maureen Platt
* Zachary Coffin as Matt MacDowell
* [[Demetri Goritsas]] as John Skelton
* [[Pervez Musharraf]] as himself [[President of Pakistan]] archival footage
* [[Colin Powell]] as himself [[United States Secretary of State]] archival footage
* [[Sajid Hasan]] as Zubair
* Mikail Lotia as Hasan
* Gary Wilmes as [[Steve LeVine]], Wall Street Journal Central Asia Correspondent
* [[Sean Chapman]] as US Journalist

== Production ==
''A Mighty Heart'' was filmed primarily in India and France, during the summer and fall of 2006.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://madeinatlantis.com/movies_central/2007/mighty_heart_production_details.htm |title=A Mighty Heart Full Production Notes |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719035959/http://madeinatlantis.com/movies_central/2007/mighty_heart_production_details.htm |archive-date=2011-07-19 |url-status=dead |access-date=2008-08-25 }}</ref> Fearing for the safety of star Angelina Jolie and the rest of the cast and crew, the vast majority of the film, set in Karachi, was filmed in Pune, India.

However, before production was officially announced, Winterbottom traveled with co-star Dan Futterman and a skeleton crew to Karachi for ten days of filming at actual locations from the events.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://jewishjournal.com/culture/arts/15020/ |title=Actor Dan Futterman and director Michael Winterbottom |author=Tom Tugend |work=[[The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles|Jewish Journal]] |date=June 22, 2007 |access-date=June 22, 2020}}</ref>

The production also shot multiple scenes in Austin, Texas in early 2007, including a key sequence with Marianne Pearl giving an interview in a Karachi hotel.<ref>https://www.austinchronicle.com/screens/2007-01-26/439266/</ref> Also filmed in Austin were exteriors of the Pearl family house (set in Los Angeles) and scenes set at ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' offices in New York, which were filmed in the offices of the ''[[Austin American-Statesman]]''.<ref>https://sues-news.com/2012/08/13/my-desk-was-in-angelina-jolie-movie/</ref>

==Box-office performance==
''A Mighty Heart'' performed poorly at the box office, only earning a total revenue of $18 million compared to its production budget of $16 million.<ref name="mojo">{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mightyheart.htm |title=A Mighty Heart (2007) |access-date=2007-11-03 |website=[[Box Office Mojo]]}}</ref> 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.<ref name="mojo"/> As of December 16, 2007, the film has grossed an additional $5.4 million in DVD/VHS sales and rentals in the United States.<ref>[https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2007/MTHRT.php A Mighty Heart - Box Office Data, Movie News, Cast Information - The Numbers]</ref>

==Critical reception==
The film received positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 79% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 192 reviews.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mighty_heart/ |title=A Mighty Heart - Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=2008-01-05 |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080105154236/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mighty_heart/| archive-date= 5 January 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref> Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 74 out of 100, based on 38 reviews.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/mightyheart |title=Mighty Heart, A (2007): Reviews |access-date=2008-01-05 |website=[[Metacritic]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071230191210/http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/mightyheart |archive-date=30 December 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070621/REVIEWS/70621002 |title=A Mighty Heart (R) |author=Roger Ebert |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |date=June 22, 2007 |access-date=November 11, 2009}}</ref> 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."<ref name="Ssmith">{{cite news|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19263097/site/newsweek/page/4/print/1/displaymode/1098 |title=Angelina Jolie wants to save the world |work=[[Newsweek]] |date=25 June 2007 |author=Sean Smith |access-date=2007-07-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100710050523/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19263097/site/newsweek/page/4/print/1/displaymode/1098 |archive-date=July 10, 2010 }}</ref> Other favorable reviewers included Peter Travers of ''Rolling Stone'',<ref name="Travers">
{{cite news|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/13097460/review/15101746/a_mighty_heart |title=A Mighty Heart |author=Peter Travers |work=[[Rolling Stone]] |access-date=2007-06-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070620201007/http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/13097460/review/15101746/a_mighty_heart |archive-date=20 June 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref> Justin Chang of ''Variety''<ref name="Chang">{{cite news |url= https://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=cannes2007&jump=review&reviewid=VE1117933711 |title= A Mighty Heart: Cannes Film Festival Review |work= [[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date= 21 May 2007 |author= Justin Chang |access-date= 2007-06-16 |quote= In his first studio venture, [[Michael Winterbottom]] coaxes forth a staggering wealth of detail from this terse, methodical account. |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070622232148/http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=cannes2007&jump=review&reviewid=VE1117933711 |archive-date= 22 June 2007 |url-status= dead }}</ref><!-- redirects to irrelevant page --> and Ray Bennett of ''The Hollywood Reporter''.<ref name="Bennett">
{{cite news |url= https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film/reviews/article_display.jsp?&rid=9249 |title= Review: 'A Mighty Heart' |author= Ray Bennett |work= [[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date= 22 May 2007| access-date=2007-06-16 |quote= With the [[BBC]]'s [[Gaza City|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. |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930222638/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film/reviews/article_display.jsp?&rid=9249  |archive-date = 2007-09-30}}</ref> Marc Mohan of ''The Oregonian'' named it the 10th best film of 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/film/awards/2007/toptens.shtml |title=Metacritic: 2007 Film Critic Top Ten Lists |access-date=2008-01-05 |website=[[Metacritic]] |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080102102034/http://www.metacritic.com/film/awards/2007/toptens.shtml  |archive-date = 2008-01-02}}</ref>

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 (TV series)|24]]'' with a bad conscience and a bad ending."<ref name="O'Hehir">
{{cite web |url= http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/review/2007/05/21/cannes_5/ |title= Beyond the Multiplex |author= Andrew O'Hehir |work= [[Salon.com]] |date= 21 May 2007 |access-date= 2007-06-16 }}</ref> ''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."<ref name="Schwarzbaum">
{{cite news|url=https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20042379,00.html |title=Movie Review: A Mighty Heart |author=Lisa Schwarzbaum |work=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |date=13 June 2007 |access-date=2007-06-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070616051436/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0%2C%2C20042379%2C00.html |archive-date=16 June 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Criticism===
[[Asra Nomani]]—a colleague of Daniel Pearl who had agreed to participate in the film—stated that the film failed to portray Pearl as a journalist, doing his job, in favor of creating a dramatic arc of "ordinary heroes". She believes Pearl would have "rolled his eyes" at that description. Describing her own response to the film, Nomani said, "For me, watching the movie was like having people enter my home, rearrange the furniture and reprogram my memory."<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/22/AR2007062201673.html?hpid=opinionsbox2 | work=The Washington Post | first=Asra Q. | last=Nomani | title=A Mighty Shame | date=2007-06-24}}</ref>

The announcement of the casting of Angelina Jolie in the role of [[Mariane Pearl]] drew criticism within the African-American community.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.nbcnews.com/id/14157112|title= Angelina Jolie sparks casting controversy |date= 2 August 2006 |access-date= 2007-12-02 }}</ref> [[Orville Lloyd Douglas]], a pop critic, has criticized the casting<ref name="Blackface">{{cite news |url= http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1501119/story.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10444455&pnum=0 |title= Shades of blackface |author= Orville Lloyd Douglas |author-link= Orville Lloyd Douglas |work= [[The New Zealand Herald]] |date= 9 June 2007 |access-date= 2007-06-19 |quote= 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 mixed race woman of Afro-Cuban heritage with her mother Marita Van Neyenhoff being black. }}</ref> because, he said, "Jolie is white" and Mariane Pearl is "mixed race". Pearl is, in fact the multiracial daughter of an Afro-Chinese-Cuban mother and a Dutch Jewish father.<ref name="O'Hehir"/><ref name="Strength">{{cite web |url= http://www.glamour.com/news/feature/articles/2006/07/10/womanstrength |title= The woman who gave me my strength |author= Mariane Pearl |work= [[Glamour (magazine)|Glamour]] magazine |date= August 2006 }} Note: this article is also on the Institute for Jewish & Community Research website ([http://www.jewishresearch.org/BL_archives/9_06BL.htm#Woman link] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091212110753/http://www.jewishresearch.org/BL_archives/9_06BL.htm#Woman |date=2009-12-12 }}).</ref><ref name="McAlpin">{{cite web |url= http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1002/p15s02-bogn.html?s=widep |title= Collateral Damage |author= Heller McAlpin |work= [[The Christian Science Monitor]] |date= 2 October 2003 }}</ref>
Pearl personally chose Jolie to play the lead in ''A Mighty Heart''.<ref name="10questions">{{cite news | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1635834,00.html | work=Time | title=10 Questions for Mariane Pearl | date=2007-06-21}}</ref>  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."<ref name="10questions"/>

==Awards==
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 [[Golden Globe Award]], a [[Screen Actors Guild Award]], and a [[Critics' Choice Movie Award]] for best actress. She also 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".<ref>[http://www.sbiff.org/news/?p=32 » Blog Archive » ANGELINA JOLIE TO RECEIVE OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE HONOR AT 23RD SANTA BARBARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071209084634/http://www.sbiff.org/news/?p=32 |date=December 9, 2007 }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Award
! Category
! Nominee
! Result
|-
| [[65th Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe Awards]]<ref name="65gg">{{cite web|url=http://www.goldenglobes.org/news/id/81|title=HOLLYWOOD FOREIGN PRESS ASSOCIATION 2008 GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2007|access-date=2008-01-05|date=2007-12-13| website= goldenglobes.org |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071215072618/http://www.goldenglobes.org/news/id/81  |archive-date = 2007-12-15}}</ref>
| Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
| [[Angelina Jolie]]
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| [[Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama|Golden Satellite Awards]]
| Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
| Angelina Jolie
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| [[Screen Actors Guild Awards]]
| Best Actress
| Angelina Jolie
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| [[Critics' Choice Movie Awards]]
| Best Actress
| Angelina Jolie
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| rowspan="3"|[[Independent Spirit Awards 2007|Independent Spirit Awards]]
| Best Actress
| Angelina Jolie
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| colspan="2"|Best Film (Feature)
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| Best First Screenplay
| [[John Orloff]]
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| [[Teen Choice Awards]]
| Best Actress – Drama
| Angelina Jolie
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| [[34th People's Choice Awards]]<ref name="winners">{{cite web|url= http://www.pcavote.com/pca/history.jsp|title=People's Choice Awards Past Winners: 2008|access-date=2008-01-10|work=PCAvote.com|publisher=Sycamore Productions |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071228232721/http://www.pcavote.com/pca/history.jsp  |archive-date = 2007-12-28}}</ref>
| colspan="2"|Favorite Independent Movie
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| [[Cannes Film Festival]]
| Chopard Trophy
| [[Archie Panjabi]]
| {{Won}}
|}

==See also==
* [[List of drama films of the 2000s]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20070508025901/http://www.amightyheartmovie.com:80/}}
* {{IMDb title|0829459|A Mighty Heart}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|mighty_heart|A Mighty Heart}}
* {{metacritic film|mightyheart|A Mighty Heart}}
* {{mojo title|mightyheart|A Mighty Heart}}
* {{Allmovie title|355218|A Mighty Heart}}
* [https://www.nbcnews.com/id/18833893 Angelina Jolie talks about the challenges of playing Mariane Pearl] at MSNBC.com
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100706044418/http://madeinatlantis.com/movies_central/2007/mighty_heart_production_details.htm ''A Mighty Heart'' Production Notes]

{{Michael Winterbottom}}
{{François Chalais Prize}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mighty Heart}}
[[Category:2007 films]]
[[Category:American films]]
[[Category:English-language films]]
[[Category:2007 biographical drama films]]
[[Category:American biographical drama films]]
[[Category:Films about journalists]]
[[Category:Films based on biographies]]
[[Category:Films directed by Michael Winterbottom]]
[[Category:Films set in Karachi]]
[[Category:Films shot in Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Paramount Vantage films]]
[[Category:Plan B Entertainment films]]
[[Category:Films produced by Brad Pitt]]
[[Category:Foreign films shot in India]]
[[Category:2007 drama films]]