The story of Mariane Pearl, a journalist, whose husband Daniel Pearl also a journalist, whilst doing some research in Pakistan he was kidnapped and brutally executed, was not new to me but the way this film told the story was.
Michael Winterbottom directs events in a quasi-documentary style which makes it all the more real. Within minutes of the film opening you forget all the celebrity Angelina Jolie generates and just concentrate on her terrifically real performance as the widow in such extraordinary circumstances.
The film flicks from Mariane to the investigators and to Danny in the events preceding his death. When Danny dies it is handled in such an emotional and sensitive way. Its hard to remember another true to life story that generates the same amount of exhaustive emotional effort on the viewers part.
Brilliant performances and a harrowingly real this film should not be missed by any film fans all over.