Watched yesterday

Mad Men: The New Girl - 4/5

A Mighty Heart - Daniel Pearl was an American journalist kidnapped and beheaded in Karachi in 2002. This true story follows the eight-day period from his kidnap and death, centered on his wife, Marianne (played by Angelia Jolie) and the investigation into his disappearance. It's an almost documentary-style telling of the events that sticks to recounting the facts, rather than speculate about events that were unseen. For example, we don't have scenes of Daniel in captivity. If there's no witness, we don't see it.

Jolie is good as Marianne, never letting her superstar status overshadow the character and support is ably provided by a largely unknown cast. However the film is rendered somewhat redundant by the certainty of the outcome. That doesn't have to be the case if the events leading up to the conclusion are interesting in and of themselves (for example, United 93 or Valkyrie), but that's not the case for much of this film and it's only when the focus shifts slight away from Marianne to the intelligence officer leading the investigation that an element of dramatic tension is introduced - 3/5