An Extraordinary Story Shortchanged

Rating: 6/10 (27 December 2014)

Imagine a bioflick about George Washington that goes something like this: 95% of screen time depicts the misery of crossing the Delaware to capture the British in mid winter. In the remaining few minutes, these statements flash on the screen: , "after this, the British were defeated, and the Colonists ultimately won the war. Oh, right, and by the way, George went on to become the country's first President and immortalized as a Founding Father."
"Unbroken" suffers from the same skewed imbalance and misplaced priorities. Louis Zamperini is a hero, but why? It's an impressive starting place, both in Lauren Hillenbrand's intricately researched biography, and in the corresponding movie, that he overcame budding delinquency by running; that he became the fastest high school sprinter of his day; that he could catch and kill live shark barehanded from a life raft; and that he survived starvation and sadism in Japanese prison camps. But what sets Louis head and shoulders above other war veterans is something almost unbelievably extraordinary: his coming to terms with the cruelest imaginable enemies and actively working to forgive them. Yet, it's that essential fact that's relegated to a few written sentences at the end of Jolie's film. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
It's common knowledge that the Hollywood mainstream is uncomfortable with religious conviction--yet we know from Hillenbrand that Zamperini would not have survived and overcome his PTSD without it--and it's the heartbeat of his life story. Unfortunately the only reference to belief within the movie is Louis' spoken promise to God to make something of his life if he is allowed to live--and it's introduced almost as a throw away line. Further, real emotions and character change don't seem to be within Director Jolie's repertoire. The special effects, such as the air bombardments and raft scenes, are fine for the most part, and the details of boyhood are mostly accurate, but when we look for the man within the history lesson, we're given sensationalism instead. Not any statements or acting that might suggest a descent into pathological hatred of the sadistic Japanese camp commander, but instead almost endless scenes of whippings, beatings, broken bones, and head punches (which elicited groans, complaints and mutters from the audience in the showing I saw). Under the circumstances, his survival seems a result of athletic training and luck as much or more than any strength of character or personal belief.
A better movie would have started with Zamperini's marriage as it floundered,..the uncovering of the consequences of PTSD as rooted in war, flashbacks of survival on the raft and camps, a look at Zamperini's alcoholism, and finally, his journey towards healing and forgiveness. It would still be a lot to fit into two hours, but it would be coherent and relatable.
Want the real Zamperini? The end of the movie shows a glimpse-- a minute of happy footage of him running with the Olympic torch in Tokyo at age 80--fully healed and absolving of the past. But you can save yourself over two hours of dramatic but pointless action on the big screen up to that point by just bypassing the movie and going straight to You Tube.