This was another biopic for Jolie, and, frankly, what may be the best
performance she's ever given, playing Mariane Pearl, the wife of kidnapped and murdered
Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl (played by Dan Futterman). Michael Winterbottom ("24
... more Hour Party People") directs Jolie with a careful hand, and, as
Pearl negotiates and pleads for her husband's safe return, Jolie conveys a calm
and grace that's one part positive thinking and one part good strategy. When the
news of Pearl's murder does come, Jolie conveys Pearl's devastated howl of grief
with a force that's like a blow; at the same time, she has also built her
performance up to that moment, so the agony never feels phony, forced or fake.
Many were amazed that Jolie didn't get an Oscar nomination for the film; that
may say a lot more about our capacity to look away from the war on terror than
it does about Jolie's stunning work. (Paramount Vantage
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