School’s Out for the Jolie-Pitts!

June 22, 2007 — ANGELINA Jolie, whose offscreen antics have consistently upstaged her acting career since winning an Oscar seven years ago, puts aside her celebrity long enough to deliver a dazzling performance as Mariane Pearl in “A Mighty Heart.”

Greatly abetted by the no-nonsense, very un-Hollywood-ish approach that British director Michael Winterbottom takes to this fact-based thriller, Jolie dons dusky makeup, dark contact lenses and corkscrew curls.

She’s surprisingly successful at disappearing into the role.

Mariane, of course, is the widow of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped and executed by Islamic fundamentalists in Pakistan.

“A Mighty Heart,” adapted by John Orloff from a memoir by Mariane Pearl, focuses on five agonizing weeks beginning on Jan. 23, 2002 at the Pearl home in Karachi, Pakistan.

Daniel Pearl, who is researching a story on shoe bomber Richard Reid, disappears after a scheduled meeting with a source.

The Afro-Cuban-Dutch Mariane, a fellow journalist and onetime radio host in her native France, quickly assembles an international team - Daniel’s colleagues from the Journal and Pakistani and American officials - to find her husband.

Even before it’s revealed the source is bogus and Mariane starts getting e-mails containing ominous photographs from the kidnappers, it’s clear that Daniel is in real trouble.

Because he’s Jewish, some in Pakistan assume he’s a Mossad agent. Because he’s American, others suspect he’s working for the CIA.

“A Mighty Heart” is remarkably apolitical, considering that it comes from the director of the Bush-bashing “The Road to Guantanamo.”

The focus is on the desperate hunt for Pearl’s kidnappers, and Mariane never stops asking questions - even though she’s six months pregnant with the couple’s first child.

Though she’s a devoted and apparently fearless journalist, the film doesn’t adequately explain why she chooses to spend her pregnancy in such a dangerous place.

Winterbottom isn’t the sort of director who spells things out neatly.

He also doesn’t encourage movie-star showboating. Jolie isn’t allowed to let loose until Daniel’s body is found.

Even then, Winterbottom shoots in near-darkness - but it’s still enough to pretty much guarantee Jolie a Best Actress nomination.

Among the standouts in the well-chosen cast are Irfan Khan (”The Namesake”) as the resolute head of Pakistan’s anti-terrorist unit and Archie Panjabi as Mariane’s reporter pal Asra, whose Indian nationality alone is enough to make her a target in Pakistan.

Daniel Pearl is played by Dan Futterman (the Oscar-winning writer of “Capote”), a look-alike who makes the most of his extremely limited screen time, primarily flashbacks of the Pearls’ life together before Daniel’s kidnapping.

The movie eschews demonizing Pearl’s killers and instead focuses on the difficulties of international communication - a theme it has in common with “Babel,” another film that was produced by Jolie’s husband, Brad Pitt.

“A Mighty Heart” isn’t nearly as affecting as the earlier movie, though. Like Mariane Pearl, it’s tasteful and restrained - there is only the briefest snippet from the beginning of Daniel Pearl’s death tape, which Mrs. Pearl has refused to watch.

Still, it’s pretty heavy going for a summer movie.

lou.lumenick@nypost.com

WHO IS TED CASABLANCA?ON ANGIE?

LINK PLEASE

I DO NOT SEE IT

BRANGELINA!!!!!!!!!

1021 yes | 06/22/2007 at 5:53 am

#1018 LOSERSTONED

Now its Chinnifer right? Bring it on, JEN IS A LOSER and just as your name says Maniston should be stoned since she is always the loser!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Excuse me…? Do you wanna wipe the froth at the sides of your mouth and go read the threads properly?!

You are a Fan of The Chin.

angie has been stereotyped as typical divorcee who will go to any man regardless their marital status..
those who judged her as such are still stucked in time!

I gave myself a good talking too. And I said what would Angie do? Ignore the haters. Continue doing good things with my life. Take care of my family and supoort my partner. That’s it. No more hate from me and no more responding to the haters. Brad and Angie will do fine.

Hello bampzs please report after see a mighty heart today.
have a nice day.
love bampzs.

1034 omg | 06/22/2007 at 6:21 am
Ok there is another new video with Brad, Z and Pax. You have to watch it. Z is too cute, she even got Brad to LoL this time. She is such a ball of sunshine.

Can you make out what Zahara says that makes the guys laugh? I think it has something to do with the paps

@1039

The caption on the video reads:

Brad Pitt takes his kids Pax and Zahara to kindergarten in Prague, Czech Republic. Zahara points at the photographers again and says “people” then Brad laughed and replied “yeah, they are everywhere”.

I can definitely hear people when she is pointing at the razzies. Maybe she wanted to say ‘crazy people’ :-)

Confucius says “Be a lotus”.
Which means no matter how ugly, how evil, and how sinful everyone around you might become, do not allow yourself to be stained. A lotus remains beautiful even as it lingers in the filthy waters of the pond. Don’t be contaminated, do not be influenced by worthless means. Remain radiant among the shadows of darkness.
Angelina is like a lotus flower.

CUTE :)
Brad laughs and says “They’re everywhere aren’t they?”

Francophile

http://splashnews.com/

Top right click video in the login box