Unbroken

Starring: Jack O'Connell, Domhnall Gleeson, Garrett Hedlund, Miyavi, Finn Whittrock, Jai Courtney, Alex Russell
Directed by: Angelina Jolie
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama
2014

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: Olympic sprinter Louie Zamperini's plane is shot down in World War II. He and a colleague (Domhnall Gleeson) survive for 45+ days before being rescued by the Japanese and thrown into a prison camp.

Review:

Tim: It is very hard for me to assess this movie, because I know too much. I read Laura Hillenbrand's book and fell in love with the incredible life of Louie Zamperini. It's almost impossible to believe and obviously makes for the perfect movie. Going into 2014, I very much expected that if Angelina Jolie could at least do the film justice, this would be a contender for the best movie of the year. I was so excited to see it. Now, Jolie does craft a very, very good movie. However, Unbroken doesn't even reach the top 10 of the year, let alone having any shot at the top spot. Yes, expectations were high, but Jolie failed to deliver. This movie should have been a slam dunk.

Now, before I get all critical, I have to say that Jolie delivers a solid, entertaining, exciting film. She obviously has some talent because she didn't completely butcher the film. If you knew nothing about the book, you'd find this movie perfectly enjoyable. I doubt you'd think it was truly excellent. For those of us who know the story, it's glaringly obvious how many chances Jolie missed to make this truly a great movie. Zamperini's story is so remarkable that this should have been one of the all-time classic films. Instead, we get a movie that is good but people will forget about. That's a shame, especially considering how touched Jolie was by the story and her real-life friendship with Zamperini.

Just imagine how cinematic and incredible Zamperini's life was- he was a troubled youth, ran in the Olympics, met Hitler, joined World War II, was shot down over the Pacific, survived over a month in a raft with no food, was rescued by the Japanese and served as a P.O.W. at several camps, seeing brutality and personal attacks. He survived all that, returned home, became an alcoholic, found God, changed his life. Wow. The possibilities for this film to mine are nearly endless.

We do get most of these scenes, although they're not nearly as effective as they could have been. I don't even fault Jolie for not showing anything after Zamperini gets home- I get that you can only show so much and those scenes from the book deserved to be cut. The problem I had was the hamfisted way Jolie (and possibly the Coen Brothers on the script) handled some of these scenes. For example, we see Louie's unlikely rise to sprinting star through his older brother's assistance. And then, there's a line, something like, "Wow, folks, Louie Zamperini is going to the Olympics!" That's it. There's no build up, no explanation for how this kid who started running late in his young life could become an Olympic athlete. Jolie needed to take 1-2 minutes to set up what an amazing achievement this was. Perhaps the biggest win of Louie's early life loses nearly all effectiveness in this context of this film. Another big issue was on the raft (MINOR SPOILER) when Mac eats all their chocolate. They huff and puff for a second as Mac looks on, stunned. This act should have effectively sealed their fate- in that moment, they probably thought Mac's selfishness doomed them to die. The scene plays out shockingly devoid of any real emotion. That was a huge moment in the film and Jolie sanitizes it and moves on. She continually does this, never rising to the occasion. The scene where Zamperini gets punched in the face 200+ times. I marveled at that in the book, questioned how that was even possible. I pondered the inner fortitude and soul of steel that would allow someone to survive that. Jolie delivers the scene but fails to make us feel anything at all. The scenes with the Bird are likewise blunted. The guy was insane, your best friend one minute and hated you the next. He zeroed in on Louie and tortured the guy. We get these scenes, but they are too lifeless, too lackluster. I know I'm belaboring the point, but I need to stress how Jolie took some of the most cinematic, amazing moments and made them okay and kind of cool. She took a film that should have been an all time classic and made it really good. I can't forgive her for that.

Jack O'Connell was an interesting choice to play Zamperini. I didn't have a specific face in mind when I read the book, so his casting didn't create any cognitive dissonance issues with me. I thought he was in the role, he certainly seemed to put forth some effort. I didn't love his performance, but it may have been Jolie's direction more than him. I wanted to love him here and I guess I liked him. Domhnall Gleeson does a good job and Miyavi was probably well cast, it's just his character doesn't get enough time to develop.

More than anything else, I just feel a bit bummed at what could have been. Jolie certainly had the passion for this project, I just don't think her talent was up for the challenge. Yes, this story was ready made for a movie, but you had to balance a lot of story in a short amount of time. You had to know which moments were critical and capitalize on them. Jolie never did that. So again, Unbroken is a really, really good movie. I'd highly recommend it. It's just sad that this could have been tremendous.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: I don't know man, read Hillenbrand's book I guess