Hugely Inspiring but Lacks that Edge

Rating: 7/10 (25 January 2015)

Reviewed by: Dare Devil Kid (DDK)
Rating: 3.6/5 stars
War is hell, but few soldiers endured as much purgatory and perdition as Louis Zamperini. As such, his story is a compelling one that shows just how much the human spirit and body can endure. Unfortunately this tale of survival has little else to offer beyond its tale of survival.
Near the beginning of "Unbroken" there's an action sequence of astonishing power - an aerial battle - mostly set inside the U.S. aircraft as it outmaneuvers, outwits, and ultimately overpowers rival Japanese aircrafts. This sequence is so well handled that expectations are raised very high that Jolie may have come up with a classic war film. But as the film proceeds, we realize that this is not to be.
In many ways Louis Zamperini's life was a miracle. The wayward son of Italian immigrants, he would go on to find his calling as a long distance runner, and represent America at both the 1936 Olympic Games as well as a bombardier in WWII, where he became a prisoner of war and survived a harrowing ordeal at the hands of the Japanese army. Refusing to have his spirit broken, Zamperini lived out the rest of his days as a dedicated Christian and inspirational speaker until his death a mere 7 months ago.
Flashbacks tell Zamperini's story, from his boyhood as an Italian- American in a Californian backwater (photographed, like most of the movie, in Australia), to his success as a runner at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and his war experiences. After crash-landing into the ocean during a routine mission, he and his surviving mates spend 47 days in a rubber raft before being captured by the Japanese Navy, and enduring the hell of two prisoner-of-war camps.
Just as an inexperienced coach of a big-market team is surrounded by veteran talent to make their job easier, Jolie is flanked by a stellar crew that have helped make "Unbroken" one of the better technically crafted films of the year, with special mention to the eternal Roger Deakins' crisp, vivid cinematography, and the excellent work by the film's sound department.
Exceptional too are the performances, especially by Jack O'Connell who caps off an extraordinary breakthrough year (which includes brilliant lead turns in "Starred Up" and "'71") with an all- encompassing turn as Zamperini, giving body and a palpable, unshakeable strength to a man whose physical and mental torture only invigorated his resolve. As the ill-fated runner/soldier, O'Connell effectively portraying the pain, stoicism and large emotional range the role requires. Another noteworthy performance comes from Ishihara, as the Japanese POW camp commander, Mutsuhiro "Bird" Watanabe, who conveys the right amount of repulsiveness - sans any caricatured bits - for us to genuinely loathe him.
Hence, it's certainly no fault of O'Connell's and the supporting cast that we don't get a clear understanding of what made Zamperini tick. That fault lies with the script, which so focused on its events that it forgets to give us much in the way of the story's characters – highly surprising considering the writing talent involved (the Coen brothers, among four writers, drafted the screenplay from Laura Hillenbrand's book. As a result, Zamperini is portrayed as little more than "the guy that survived" - we get no sense of what he was like as a man beyond the fact that his spirit was "unbreakable", and that he was a fairly decent guy. We are left with no idea about what really drove him and kept him going through such horrific experiences, and even less of an idea about his fellow POWs.
An audience is always going to care more about people if they get to know them, but there is little in the way of introductions or development for these POWs. It's really only the relentless weight of their suffering that allows the film to break through emotionally, and as such it feels like "Unbroken" sells its subjects short.
It's hard to fault Jolie's direction too much either. The film takes a little while to get going but moves at a decent pace in its latter half. She also avoids making the necessary violence overtly gratuitous. The problem lies with the script and its "events, not characters" approach. Also, the movie is not filled with scintillating dialogue or amazing set pieces - although the opening aerial dog fight is pretty cool and the Olympic sequence is done well - so without character depth to drive the necessary emotional punch we are left with little more beyond an hour of hardship.
I guess if one were to fault Jolie's direction it would have to be in her hurriedness to conclude Zamperini's amazing journey. While she does not flinch in depicting the inhumane, despicable brutality which Zamperini endured, there is too much fixation on the savagery which befell this man, and not enough time dedicated to Zamperini's post- war journey into a strong Christian belief, that saw him eventually forgive the captors that tormented him. There is an entire third act missing from "Unbroken" that was needed to bring things full circle. With Jolie's strong bond with Zamperini during his last days, one would think that she would know it wasn't just the dark moments during the war that encapsulated his life, but also the power of grace and forgiveness that drew him from the shadows and into the light.
It's that kind of thing that great filmmakers pick up on and form into great movies. One day Jolie may well get that instinct. She has talent, no doubt about that, and may one day make a really outstanding film. As for "Unbroken", the film is certainly worth a look as it's a compelling story, but you will walk away knowing what happened to Zamperini and not who Zamperini really was. Jolie's second directorial stint could be considered as more of a strong learning curve than a grand statement.