Inspirational Story

Rating: 7/10 (25 April 2015)

The film is set mainly during WWII, based on the life of problem child, turned Olympian turned war hero Louis Zamperini. A real life figure who is portrayed by the relatively unknown (in America anyways) Jack O' Connell. The film starts off well enough, putting us right into the action of Zamperini's war days, with flashbacks to his time as a trouble making kid, and back to the war and back to his time as a track star... and back and forth until the two story lines catch up with each other. The trailers left me with the impression that the bulk of the story would be spent in the Japanese internment camps, it actually took close to an hour to get us there. Although at over a 2 hour running time, the argument could be made, that all that preceded the POW camp was back story, or build up. I do commend the filmmakers for trying to stay as close to real events and timeliness as possible. That being said, the film did feel a bit slow to me at times. Maybe after a second screening I won't feel as off by the pacing knowing when the parts of the story I saw in the trailer were coming. This film is only the second feature from superstar turned filmmaker, Angelina Jolie, with a screenplay by none other than the the famed writer/director siblings, Joel and Ethan Coen. I'm not sure if you've figured this out yet, but I am a big supporter of the female filmmaker. However I did find a few problems with Angelina's directing, that I feel the need to comment on. As I said earlier the pacing of the film seemed a little slow for my taste, but that's something I can get past. The physical scenes, like Zamperini getting beat up as a child, or disciplined by his father fell flat. Instead of utilizing close ups to show pain or emotion, these scenes were left mostly as wide shots, or what I call establishing shots, as if we were just watching what was happening and not experiencing it from Louis point of view. The same goes for the more brutal scenes in the camps. However, the argument could be made that this was done on purpose, to show a more human side to Zamperini's tormentors. Maybe I've become too desensitized by modern filmmaking, but I still feel there could have been a few more cuts to close ups and reaction shots to convey more of a sense of urgency or fear. I do appreciate the overall feel of the movie, Angelina Jolie seems to have a very romantic sense of filmmaking, not unlike Sofia Coppola. Which can be wonderful, but I've had the same pacing issue with some of Coppola's films as I had with this film. That being said the nominations that Unbroken was awarded were well deserved, cinematography and sound mixing and sound editing (though you'd be hard pressed to find a decent war movie that was not nominated for a sound achievement). I just hope that miss Jolie (or Mrs. Jolie-Pitt, whatever she goes by) is aware of the talent of her crew, and appreciates their contribution to the film. that being said, I do feel that Angelina Jolie has talent as a director. The cast was absolutely amazing, and their performances were top notch. It is very obvious that Jolie knows how to direct her actors.
So, when all is said and done, if you go into Unbroken expecting an inspirational story over a war drama, you will not be disappointed. I am excited to see more of Angelina Jolie in this medium as well as the actors and crew.