Posted on 06/24/2007 3:16:53 PM PDT by Lorianne
O n Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2002, I stood at the gate of my rented house in Karachi, watching my friend Danny Pearl juggle a notebook, cellphone and earpiece as he bounded over to a taxicab idling in the street. He was off to try to find the alleged al-Qaeda handler of "shoe bomber" Richard Reid in Pakistan. "Good luck, dude," I called, waving cheerfully as he strode off, a lopsided grin on his face. His pregnant wife, Mariane, stood smiling and waving beside me as the taxi pulled away. A gaggle of parrots swooped through the trees above, squawking in the late afternoon sun.
That was the last image I had of Danny until late last month, when a PR executive for Paramount Vantage pulled up to my house in Morgantown, W.Va., in a black Lincoln Town Car. She was carrying a DVD of "A Mighty Heart," the just-released movie, based on the book by Mariane Pearl, about the staggering events that unfolded after that innocuous moment in Pakistan: Danny's kidnapping and eventual beheading.
With my parents and a friend beside me, I pressed "play" on my DVD player and settled in to watch. Slowly, as the scenes ticked by, my heart sank. I could live with having been reduced from a colleague of Danny's to a "charming assistant" to Mariane, as one review put it, and even with having been cut out of the scene in front of my house in Pakistan. That's the creative license Hollywood takes. What I couldn't accept was that Danny himself had been cut from his own story.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
What gets me is why they had this actress from nepotism playing a black woman. Was Halle Berry unavailable? Or how about Jowharah Jones who is virtually a twin for Mariane Pearl?
Forgive me, but I always felt that Danny Pearl knew he was taking on a suicide mission — and that these b*st*ards he was dealing with might turn on him at any moment. And after he had been taken captive and his fate unknown, I thought his wife revealed that same “understanding” — and now she seems to be “milking” his death for whatever it is worth — and perhaps this writer (Danny’s former assistant) knows that and reflects that in this piece (and her book). Anyway, leave it to Hollywierd to exploit anything and everything — even the beheading of a young journalist, who probably didn’t really think his “friends” in the jihadist movement would actually take his head, just for the fun and spectacle of it.
Forgive my humble opinion, but that’s what comes through reading this article. And saying prayers for Danny Pearl as I post this “message.”
Danny Pearl was beheaded and his wife turns into the star. Sheesh. Does this movie cover her affair with the married head of CNN, Eason Jordan? I think I have better places to spend my money.
A lot more people are going to see a movie starring Angelina Jolie than the same movie starring Mariane Pearl.
Has anyone here seen this? Does it accurately portray the nature of Pearl’s captors?
I’m a lot more concerned that they got the nature of Jihad right than that they got the nuances of Pearl’s personality right. (Something that’s in any case difficult for a screenwriter, director or actor to do in the case of private citizen, especially if they are no longer alive).
Let’s face it... selling the rights for this picture to Brad Pitt? Brad Pitt!? Prettyboy-Dumbass? And the increasingly troll-like narcissist Angelina Jolie as Mariane Pearl? You know, if you sell the movie rights for “War and Peace” to pigs, the pigs will turn it into a sty.
Sorry... I meant “ a movie starring Jowharah Jones.”
Marianne is Cuban and French. And Angelina Jolie gives a stunning performance.
Given the fact that Marianne supervised the story from day 1, there must be some truth there. I found it to be a very powerful film and it was, after all, a narrative by Marianna, the survivor; therefore it had to be acted out by her.
I’m thinking Oscar-worthy performance here.
My lady wants to see this movie, but I’m reluctant to spend a dime on anything that might show muzzies as reasonable in any way. Anybody know if this film shows them to be the evil scum we all know they are?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.