Jamie passion and passionfruit!

Michael Winterbottom, the prolific British director goes back to a part of the world he knows to bring to life the story of Marianne Pearl, whose husband Daniel was kidnapped and killed by terrorists in Pakistan in 2002.  The film is about the search for Daniel and the way that she held up to all the pressure being pregnant at the time.  Angelina Jolie does a very good job of the lead, being in nearly every scene and showing the strength of this woman without resorting to any histrionics.  As always with Winterbottom, this is an interesting film, fast moving but not always relevant – there are many short scenes of the chase for leads which become somewhat dull.  It seems like a documentary and this perhaps makes it more of a flat story in the end, despite the enormous implications of this crime.  Somehow I just did not get the same excitement and impact that Road to Guantanamo gave me.  Obviously, the logistics of filming in that part of the world and the need to help us understand the complicated web of people involved in the crime meant extra information and time to set up scenes.  This gives us authenticity but perhaps not the tightest screenplay.  I liked the movie but felt it was more poignant for its subject matter – especially as Clara Rojas visits Argentina, than for its quality as a film. Decent and good to see Jolie in a part worthy of her talent.

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