Unbroken

NYPost

I remember when I first saw the trailer for Unbroken. I was sitting in the theater, and I kid you not, I got chills while watching it. Just the idea of this epic story was already making me feel inspired. Well, just as they say don't judge a book by its cover, you shouldn't judge a movie by its trailer. Unbroken was a good movie, but as a viewer, it was frustrating to watch this movie knowing it could have been far more powerful by giving full justice to its source material.

Unbroken is the true story of Louis Zamperini (Jack O'Connell), a son of Italian immigrants who ran for the United States Olympic Team and later fought in their war. We see Louis grow up a headstrong troublemaker. At the insistence of his older brother, Louis turns his life into something meaningful when he focuses his efforts on distance running - a skill he develops through high school that eventually takes him to the Olympics. Despite starting off in the back end of his race, he impresses the announcers and spectators by making a huge comeback in the last lap - and even though he knew he wouldn't win, he decided he could've pushed himself a bit further. 

After his athletic success, Louis joins the Air Force during the height of World War II, and while flying over foreign waters, his plane crashes and most supplies are lost. Louis, along with the only other two survivors, are forced to spend a month and a half on a raft while trying to avoid capsizing, dehydration, starvation, shark attacks, Japanese fighter pilots, and worst of all, the feeling of hopelessness. The soldiers soon discover that their suffering is far from over when they are captured by the enemy and placed in separate prisoner of war camps. Louis is left alone a captive in a strange land while being beaten and tormented by the camp's overseer, The Bird. All the while, Louis yearns to go home, but never compromises his country, his spirit, or his integrity in that mission.

At times, Unbroken isn't nearly as good a movie as it pretends to be as, but other times, it's a lot better than it's playing off to be. It's hard to pinpoint exactly where the movie went wrong. My guess would be that director Angelina Jolie felt the film could carry itself with the epic inspiration of the real-ife story. Unfortunately, that story didn't convey that same atmosphere to the viewer, no matter how much Jolie had hoped. Jolie's lack of effort comes across far too often. Most of the time, Unbroken manages to overcome Jolie's unremarkable direction, but the film itself can't wholly shake that feeling away.

If anything, Louis Zamperini's story is one that should be seen on screen, and it wouldn't be right to dismiss the man's existence or the film itself just because Angelina Jolie isn't a great director. Everything else in the film - the score, the film editing, the art, and the cinematography - are all able to pick the film up in some of its lower areas, and because the story is told well enough, I do recommend it. Unbroken had so much potential, but sadly, not all of it was fully realized.

Rating: 3/5