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Five years after New York journalist Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan, A Mighty Heart lays bare the agony of his wife Mariane Pearl. Basing the film on her memoir, director Michael Winterbottom presents a documentary-style chronicle of events that is completely unsentimental and at the same time full of compassion. Occasionally it's difficult to get past Angelina Jolie's slightly heightened portrayal of Mariane although it's obviously heartfelt.

Dan Futterman plays Daniel as a fair-minded, no-nonsense reporter investigating the case of shoe-bomber Richard Reid. He doesn't suspect that he's walking into a trap when go-betweens arrange a meeting with a secret source, but hours go by, then days with Mariane growing increasingly frantic. Adding weight to the drama is the fact that she is pregnant with his child. And given the publicised outcome, Winterbottom does well to draw tension from efforts to find Daniel.

"A TENDER STORY"

During the hunt, Jolie can do little except sit and wait, and she has few flashes of inspiration. She throws her weight about with the local authorities, screams and cries, and does her stiff upper lip in a televised appeal, but she never quite captures the depth of passion implied in the title. The way is clear for supporting players in more dynamic roles to steal her thunder. Irfan Khan (The Namesake) brings great humanity to his role as 'the captain' in charge of the search. Even as he supervises the torture of a witness, his sorrow for his fellow man is evident. Archie Panjabi (The Constant Gardener) also stands out as Daniel's colleague and a rock for Mariane despite public accusations that she's an Indian spy. It's a tender story of grace under pressure, and although Jolie hasn't got her finger fully on the pulse of Mariane, the sense of realism lends power.

A Mighty Heart is out in the UK on 21st September 2007.