- Release Date: March 24, 2009
- Publisher: Paramount
- Price: $21.99 on Amazon.com (Buy It
)
- Rating: R (language)
- Run Time: 108 minutes
- Special Features: “A Journey of Passion: The Making of A Mighty Heart,” Public Service Announcement, Committee to Protect Journalists, Theatrical Trailer
- Starring: Angelina Jolie, Dan Futterman, Irrfan Khan, Archie Panjabi, Will Patton
- Genre: Drama
Going into “A Mighty Heart” I had absolutely no expectations for it. Based on the description on the back, it sounded incredibly boring and definitely not my kind of movie. Still, I got a review copy and decided to give it a chance anyway. It’s a good thing I did since the film was definitely better than I expected. It obviously isn’t a classic that everybody must watch or anything but it is a very serviceable drama that most fans of the genre should enjoy.
“A Mighty Heart” is a true story that stars Angelina Jolie as Mariane Pearl, the wife of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl who was kidnapped by terrorists. In the film, Mariane desperately searches for clues in an attempt to locate Daniel before he is killed. If you keep track of the news, you probably know how the story ends but I won’t spoil it in case you don’t.
The film isn’t the most entertaining drama out there but it does do a lot of things right. For one, Jolie is outstanding in the lead role. Jolie is always good in every role she plays but she took her performance to a whole new level in this film. Also, the film feels very real due to a predominantly handheld camera shooting style. Finally, the film does a very good job of showing what actually happened. Sometimes these “based on a true story” flicks tend to veer away from the real story in order to make the film more entertaining but “A Mighty Heart” doesn’t really do that.
This is a Blu-ray so video quality is obviously one of the most important factors in this review. While this release isn’t one of the better looking Blu-rays I’ve seen, it definitely is passable. The picture is gritty and detailed and there are really no problems with the video quality. This just really isn’t a film that you absolutely need to see in Blu-ray. This is the best the video quality is going to look but if you don’t mind a slightly inferior transfer, just keep your DVD or HD-DVD instead. If you are a huge stickler for video quality, $21.99 is pretty reasonable for a solid upgrade.
The extras are a little light especially for a newer film. “A Journey of Passion” is the main featurette at over 30 minutes in length. It is pretty much your traditional “making of” featurette which is included on almost every DVD release. Also included is a public service announcement for the Pearl Foundation, a series of interviews with the Committee to Protect Journalists that recounts the events of the Pearl kidnapping, and the theatrical trailer. None of the features included are must-watches unless you really enjoyed the film.
“A Mighty Heart” is a very solid drama that most fans of the genre should enjoy. Is it worth an upgrade to Blu-ray though? I would probably say no unless you really care about video quality. The film looks as good as it probably ever will but it really isn’t a movie that you have to watch in the best quality possible.
