In a world laced with conflict and turmoil, a movie regarding a real life tragedy about the gruesome death of a journalist covering a war commands a built-in audience. Add in superstar Angelina Jolie as the lead, and it's no surprise A Mighty Heart is generating a lot of buzz.

Jolie plays Mariane Pearl, wife of Wall Street Journal South Asia Bureau Chief Daniel Pearl (Dan Futterman). Marianne, herself a newspaper reporter, has no qualms about following her husband on assignment to Pakistan, even though the devoted couple is expecting their first child. Daniel is there to work on a story about 2002's shoe bomber, Richard Reid. As expected, he must work through dozens of contacts to get leads for his story and trust that their contacts are also safe.

The beginning of the film sets this scene as Daniel traverses the streets of Karachi, Pakistan,  where it's obvious how chaotic life is in this third-world country. The streets are overly crowded, Daniel meets most of his contacts in dark places while unaccompanied at night -- as the shaky hand-held camera of Marcel Zyskind offers up suspenseful scenes of this experience. Back in the couple's compound where they live and work, Mariane calmly awaits her husband’s return home and the arrival of their baby.

One night when Danny heads out to meet with his go-between source, Omar Saeed Sheikh, aka “Bashir,” he doesn't return for dinner. As the hours tick by, Mariane becomes increasingly worried. A host of friends arrive to help keep vigil; Asra Nomani (Archie Panjabi), an old friend  and WSJ colleague of Danny’s  living in Karachi, WSJ's John Bussey (Denis O'Hare), Steve LeVine (Gary Wilmes) and U.S. diplomatic security specialist Randall Bennett (Will Patton).

Although she has so much support, Mariane remains calm, even after a videotape surfaces to announce that Daniel has been kidnapped. She knows the drill, and does not become a crying-why-me, hysterical wife. Instead she's the hard-core professional journalist who spends every tick of the clock to drive both the U.S. and Pakistan governments to do all they can to find Daniel.

As numerous agencies including the FBI and Captain (Irrfan Khan), the head of Pakistan’s counter-terrorism unit, work around the clock, Mariane is checked out by a doctor and remains committed to keeping calm for the well being of her unborn child.

Jolie does a fine job of portraying Mariane, especially in the heartfelt scenes after the video of Daniel's beheading surfaces. However, for me she's become so notable, I simply cannot forget she's an actress and not the character she plays. While I appreciated and was interested in knowing about this tragedy, Jolie's presence along with the film's intention not to be sentimental left me unemotionally involved.  

A Mighty Heart, based on Mariane Pearl's book, is mainly focused on revealing exactly what's happening to so many journalists covering these situations. In the five years since Daniel Pearl’s death, nearly 230 journalists have been killed in the line of duty. Clearly, the movie is also designed to paint a vivid picture of what kind of man Daniel Pearl was, and while that objective is sincerely met, Mariane Pearl says it best - “In his work, Danny struggled to keep free of dogma and alliance. He didn’t represent a country or a flag, just the pursuit of truth. He was there to hold up a mirror and force people to look at themselves. What better way is there to respect humanity?”

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

Review also posted on www.reviewexpress.com.

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