Because he was one of an exalted breed -- an American? Or because he was white? Jewish? A journalist? The manner in which he was killed? (For that matter, what were the reasons that he was targetted ... as the film never made clear).

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is well made and certainly worthy of respect, but when I see a movie about a man who writes a book when all he can move is one eyelid and I don't shed even one tear, I think something's wrong. I don't like to be manipulated obviously, but some catharsis is called for here which the overly intellectualized Julian Schnabel movie doesn't give us. It's not remotely a bad film, but neither is it worthy of the hosannas it's been getting from the media.

This is a better-written version of the paragraph I wrote on the film, echoing the exact same opinion. More evidence that Billy and I are the conjoined twins of 2007's litter of critics.

I didn't really understand why a film about Daniel Pearl would star Angelina Jolie. It turns out that A Mighty Heart is really the Mariane Pearl story plus the investigation of her husband's kidnapping. One problem is that we don't get much of a feel for Daniel Pearl. I would have been interested in hearing some of his writing....

I'm not sure what world you live in but the answer is two of the speculated reasons in your above comment and they aren't 'white' or 'journalist'.

Do you just bleed for these maniacs but not listen to their pronouncements?

Perhaps Iraq has hardened us so that the death of a journalist is not so shocking.

I think most people are tired of anything that's attached to Iraq. Even when it's a story about an journalist just doing his job.

Haven't seen AMH yet, but I will someday.

Did you even see the film?
It was based on the book by his wife and presented from her point of view, and makes a point of saying that few in Pakistan knew that Pearl was Jewish and that he wasn't observant or outwardly Jewish. Speculation in the film was that it was because he worked for the WSJ and they had just turned over documents to the CIA, and therefore Pearl was presumed to be CIA. Finding out that he was Jewish very likely hastened his death, but certainly from the film it is not at all clear that was a reason that he was kidnapped.

My main question was what was special about Danny Pearl that I should be significantly affected by his death rather than that of anyone else, of whatever nationality, kidnapped and killed by these or other terrorist groups. I think it was the fact that he was a journalist and the method of death combined with the video shock which made his ordeal stand out.

I liked A Mighty Heart a tad more than Gromit did, but I found Angelina's feigned accent distracting and annoying.

Did you seem her in Sky Captain? Talk about a distracting, annoying feigned accent.