IF I CAN TAKE IT, I CAN MAKE IT

Rating: 6/10 (2 May 2018)

This is based on the true story of Olympic Gold Medalist Louie Zamperini (Jack O'Connell) and his internment in a Japanese POW camp. As a POW war film, it wasn't as good as many of the fictional offerings. The intent of the film was to be inspirational. Louie lived by the motto, "If I can take it, I can make it," not my first choice for a life motto. Apparently it is his spirit that was "Unbroken" as they broke his body and damaged his mind. He was held captive by "The Bird" (Takamasa Ishihara) a man who talked to Louie like a dysfunctional lover saying, "Don't look at me." to the point nausea.
At one point the troops are moved and as a bombardier, Louie had to personally see the damaged his kind caused, but there was no emotional, "what have we done" scene. In fact at the end, he credits his faith as carrying him through his internment and surviving enhanced interrogation techniques, yet we see minimal evidence of that while he was imprisoned.
It is a film that fails to convey the message that was in the book, except as a post script. At one point I had a Mel Brooks moment and thought what a great musical this could be using the songs, R-E-S-P-E-C-T, and "Working in a Coal Mine." My bad. This was a limited inspirational adaptation.
Guide: No f-bombs, or sex. Male rear nudity.