A Mighty Heart

Well, I just got back from a wonderful family wedding and I will not be posting again today other than what I have to say here, and an FYC ad.

I finally got around to watching A Mighty Heart and as a whole, it is seriously flawed. Fractured editing, poor camera angles, emotionless lighting, and an overall underwhelming directorial sentiment are just a few of the technical problems with the film. It has some incredible moments, and I will give it that, but it seemed to be trying so hard to become an investigative preachy morality tale of differences and misunderstanding that it ended up becoming a lesson in the art of alienating international struggles as a simple plot device.

That being said, Jolie is pretty much stellar in this film. I have not seen her dig into a character so much since Girl, Interrupted, for which she won a Supporting Actress award. She was strong yet vulnerable in the same way Julianne Moore was in Far From Heaven, while displaying complete devastation in the style of Naomi Watts in 21 Grams.

I believe she should be nominated for this performance, but it is very possible she could be snubbed. If she does not get a nod at least, it is the fault of the director for pointing the camera in the wrong direction. Too many shots were focused on the recipient of Jolie's lines instead of on her. I think a lot of desperation and drive were missed from her because of those botched moments.

One hell of an emotional breakdown at the end though.

For these reasons...I have decided to bump Amy Adams from the top five on the sidebar and give it to Jolie. I don't think AMPAS can ignore this performance. I mean, the Globes, SAG, and BFCA couldn't...

Film: C+
Jolie: A-

Later Players.