Worth watching

Rating: 5/10 (9 October 2015)

A war movie, directed by Angelina Jolie. The true story of an American Olympic runner, who took part in WWII. He was lost at sea and was later a prisoner of war.
Impressive (perhaps - read what I wrote later) direction by Angelina Jolie. Good performance by Jack O'Connell.
The biggest flaw in the movie is the makeup: It's terrible and takes you out of the movie. How persons who spend a month at sea have neat hair and tiny beard that looks like they just went to the barber? Same goes for the POW period, especially with the coal - it looks completely fake (and it seems I'm not the only one thinking that).
Another flaw is that I didn't feel an "impact" by this movie. All the elements are there, but somehow it doesn't have a "punch". I'm not sure whether it's a problem of writing or direction. Perhaps both.
And one more thing: Many movies I watched during this weekend have the tendency to give long flashbacks, especially the youth period of the person. It's really annoying. I understand a short flashback, but why do they keep doing those long flashbacks? Why don't they tell the story in linear order? So annoying.
The movie reminded me of other POW movies, especially "Rescue Dawn (2006)" and "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)" - and coincidentally both movies feature a pop star in a major role. It also reminded me of "Memphis Belle" (and a little of "Life of Pi").
Side note: Isn't it a weird choice to cast two English men for major roles as Americans soldiers?
Reading the other reviews, it seems that people really hated this movie. I'm not sure why. It's not a great movie and it has its flaws, but I expected this kind of material to get overrated ratings and award nominations.