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Page Versus Screen: 'A Mighty Heart'
June 27, 2007

Considering the mega-publicity-blitz Angelina Jolie has been on -- how long was her Larry King interview, anyway? Two hours? Ten? -- producers of her movie 'A Mighty Heart' can only have been, well, disheartened, by last weekend's box-office returns. Super-Lite Comedy 'Evan Almighty' -- $32 million; Meaningful Bio-Pic 'A Mighty Heart' -- $4 million. 

                                                                  A Mighty Heart

Is it simply that the burgeoning idiocracy (thanks, Mike Judge, for that useful term) has won? Or is it something else?

While I won't deny that the idiocracy gains members daily, this time I think it's actually something else. Mariane Pearl's A Mighty Heart was a book originally subtitled "The Brave Life and Death of My Husband Danny Pearl." I understand the new subtitle: "The Inside Story of the Al-Qaeda Kidnapping of Danny Pearl," since the further we get from the events discussed the more necessary it is to remind people of why they were significant. But Pearl's original subtitle was all about her husband -- yes, she was on the book's cover at that point, but that was because her face was the living link that helped readers understand the horror of Danny Pearl's kidnapping and execution.

                                                           Cover Image

The movie, on the other hand, seems to have taken this one link too far: Mariane Pearl's book title referred to Danny Pearl. The movie title refers to Mariane Pearl -- or, let's be honest, "Saint Angelina IS Mariane Pearl." 

Of course, many screen adaptations that veer sharply from their source material are huge hits. I've no doubt that 'A Mighty Heart,' the movie, could have been a much better film (see this review for some suggestions), and might have succeeded on its own merits as a tale of a tragic widow. 

What I'm wondering is if the movie missed its mark with viewers because it missed Mariane Pearl's original point so completely. Did people instinctively realize that the movie had no heart? 

What do you think?

 


Posted by Bethanne Patrick on June 27, 2007 | Comments (6)


June 30, 2007
In response to: Page Versus Screen: 'A Mighty Heart'
Kevin A. Lewis commented:

I think people are simply suffering from Angelina burnout; I've made several snarky cracks about her hobby of collecting exotic munchkins from strange climates on other blogs, but basically she's way overexppsed and needs to step back and get over herself a bit, good intentions notwithstanding...




June 30, 2007
In response to: Page Versus Screen: 'A Mighty Heart'
Hannah M commented:

I think that the movie did not succeed because of Angelina. She has the press sign contracts so she can sue them if she is portrayed in a negative light.... The public is tired of her, not Pearl.




June 30, 2007
In response to: Page Versus Screen: 'A Mighty Heart'
Kevin A. Lewis commented:

Well, true, but at least she pretends to be nice, and I have heard Ann Coulter collects exotic munchkins so she can cook them and eat them... Really, Bethanne, you shouldn't get people started on stuff like this...




July 28, 2007
In response to: Page Versus Screen: 'A Mighty Heart'
Kim S. commented:

Perhaps it was the casting which doomed the film. Mariane Pearl is of Afro-Cuban heritage. Perhaps the Latino and African-American communities were put off by Angelina playing a multi-racial woman. Pearl discusses her heritage in her book but this doesn't come out in film. Aside from Angelina having had her skin darkened (which some find quite offensive) and she's wearing a kinky wig.




July 28, 2007
In response to: Page Versus Screen: 'A Mighty Heart'
Kim Simons commented:

Perhaps it was the casting which doomed the film. Mariane Pearl is of Afro-Cuban heritage. Perhaps the Latino and African-American communities were put off by Angelina playing a multi-racial woman. Pearl discusses her heritage in her book but this doesn't come out in film. Aside from Angelina having had her skin darkened (which some find quite offensive) and she's wearing a kinky wig.




January 8, 2008
In response to: Page Versus Screen: 'A Mighty Heart'
AC , India commented:

I don't exactly see the point of people finding fault with Angelina Jolie's acting or the way she looked in the film. The important thing is the message of the film. The reason why it was made. This movie could not have been portrayed in a more accurate manner. It was as you see in the movie. This is the real world. Its not a movie where a group of people have sat together and created... it's a TRUE STORY. It was probably lost with viewers because of the way the "EAST side" looks or that it's not a very "IN" movie to watch. And the casting could not have been better. Trust me.





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