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Reviews
A Mighty Heart (2007)
Let's not trivialise issues of world wide importance
"It is not a glossy painted Hollywood drama. ..The movie is shot in a way that artfully places the viewer into the chaos of Karachi". Yes yes yes! The photography seemed intense, dark, crowded and even menacing.
But the film was about the heartbreak of an individual woman, for goodness sake. Despite the heroic endeavours of the foreign embassy staff, the US military, the entire intelligence community and the Pakistani police, Daniel Pearl was not rescued. There were really important political, ideological and military issues to discuss, but unfortunately most of the story was about whether Mrs Pearl was functioning well or not. I have no problems with the way Jolie handled the role. She is a fine actress. My complaint is that all the really important issues were trivialised by the writers. It may have been an "effective re-telling of a story that is still fresh in the minds of the audience" but film goers don't need complex issues reduced to the personal and the domestic.
Aviva Ahuvati (2006)
How can one woman be responsible for so many people?
The film summary wrote: "But the journey to greatness effects her life and the lives of her family - her unemployed husband, her trouble children, her unstable mother, and primarily her sister".
I cannot disagree strongly enough. Her journey to greatness was stymied at every point by a lazy husband and children, and disturbed parents, sister and brother in law. But this was never the result of Aviva's own actions. She worked a long day job, ran the household, visited her parents, supported her sister and wrote when she could. Aviva's journey, successful or otherwise, was through her own heroic effort.
There were some really funny lines. I wish the English sub titles were more accurate.