The poster of this says, “This is the story you haven’t heard.” Hmm. Yeh – unless of course you’ve read the book by Daniel Pearl’s wife that it’s based on, I guess. Even if you haven’t, I don’t think there’s a lot here that couldn’t be inferred by the basics of the story. Your husband goes missing in the most dangerous part of the world right now, how exactly are you gonna react?

I considered trying like so many have not to sound insensitive in this review, to glow enough about Angelina Jolie’s performance that I don’t have to worry about the lack of comment on the rest of the movie. I decided, hopefully those who know me already will know I’m sensitive about stuff like this, and hopefully those who don’t know me that care about whether a person is sensitive about such things will attempt to get to know me.

In short, it’s not that great a movie. I was swung as most everyone else by Jolie’s performance in the end – though I’m still a little skeptical that the nonetheless emotionally affecting “screaming in a room” scene is really worthy of an Oscar nod – but like the last Michael Winterbottom movie I saw before the only slightly better Cock and Bull Story, Code 46, this is ultimately so “authentically” procedural it’s painful (and not in a good way).