An air of tragic inevitability hangs over A Mighty Heart, and therein lies its challenge -- how to keep its viewers involved when we already know the outcome? The story here is the effort to find and rescue Daniel Pearl, the journalist who was kidnapped and eventually slain by terrorists while he was researching a story in Karachi, Pakistan. As the movie is based on the book written by his widow, Mariane Pearl, also a journalist, it's mostly mounted from her point of view. At the time, she was pregnant with their first child.

In tackling the task of maintaining involvement, Michael Winterbottom's movie emerges as a most unusual creature. One might consider emotional investment a key to the success of this tale's telling, so it's somewhat odd that Winterbottom employs a documentary style which keeps the audience at an observational distance. But then the film also wants to be a suspense thriller, often leaving Mariane aside in favor of following the investigators; and on top of that, Mariane is played by the high profile Angelina Jolie.

This combination of approaches creates several push-pull conflicts that might hinder a viewer from staying absorbed in the proceedings. Since suspense hinges on not knowing what will ultimately happen, the thriller approach is muted; since Jolie's scenes eventually become isolated, her acting -- which, admittedly, is very good -- becomes spotlighted. It's curious to me that at the moment the movie is supposed to feel its most horrific, at its highest point of anguish, I felt only superficially sad. It was just a fraction of the grief I felt upon reading about the tragedy in the news, five years ago.

But up to now I've been talking about the mechanics of the film; more significant are its goals and the insights it may want to reveal. In a movie such as this -- based on a famous, real event everyone knows the ending to, especially if it's sad -- the window to the insights of humanity, its conflicts and contradictions, becomes doubly important. One of the best examples of this kind of film was United 93, in which we all knew where it was going -- yet fascinated to watch the daily human ritual upended, allowing survival instincts, driven both by primal forces and an ingrained sense of ideals, to take over.

In A Mighty Heart, people act as we may predict them to act when faced with such a situation. The investigators scramble to find any and all leads. Once they have one that's substantial, they follow it until it either dead ends or uncovers another lead. As the procedures continue, everyone maintains hope, carries a surface optimism, and perhaps becomes a little more desperate. But otherwise not much else besides facts are revealed -- that the network of underground terror is labyrinthine and rather proficient at creating facades and the Pakistani authorities, led by a man known simply as Captain (Irrfan Khan from The Namesake, now batting two-for-two this year), did their absolute best to crack them.

If the film has anything unique to offer, it would have to find it at its fulcrum, Mariane herself. Her potential as a thematic linchpin wavers between being played as your usual loyal wife, longing for the best possibilities when not bursting with anger at setbacks in the investigation, and being depicted as a woman of unusual objectivity in not allowing the terrible turn of events to boil any lust for vengeance, justice, or righteous indignation she might have. She is a strong woman of high ideals; as someone who is not revenge-driven (she is contrasted by the character of Randall Bennett (Will Patton), seen here as somewhat of an American cowboy), she could be considered more civilly advanced than most people.

Although Jolie's voice-over as Mariane claims the movie is for her son to know who his father Danny (Dan Futterman) was, A Mighty Heart appears much less about him (frankly, his ideals get more air play than he himself or his accomplishments do) than it is about the mother. It's a wobbly proposition, and it's not without its weaknesses -- Mariane is seen as admirable, respectable, yet, due to her mindful stance, perhaps not too easy to identify with. As a focal point, she battles with the investigation for screen time. And because her stance never changes -- she could be considered passionate but grounded from beginning to end -- we aren't given a journey of character, no developmental turning points; we are simply given a portrait of strength. So as the film runs its series of events in which we may learn facts but not necessarily gain insights, we simply observe and appreciate Mariane's mighty heart.

(Released by Paramount Vantage and rated "R" for language.)

Review also posted at www.windowtothemovies.com.