Angelina Jolie’s sophomore directorial effort, “Unbroken,” is an utterly bland, mostly soulless endeavor. It’s the kind of large-scale historical biopic that comes ready-made with words like “inspirational,” “heartbreaking” and “powerful.” But the movie is none of those things.
Based on the nonfiction book by Lauren Hillenbrand, “Unbroken” tells the story of Louis Zamperini (Jack O’Connell), an Olympic runner who, after a near-fatal plane crash during World War II, spends 47 days stranded at sea before being held in a Japanese POW camp. It’s an amazing story with a tepid, unconvincing execution.
The picture is divided into three sections: Zaperini growing up, Zaperini stranded on a raft at sea with two other surviving soldiers and his time at the POW camp, where he’s tormented by a cruel Japanese officer. Each section presents its information and events in the most conventional and boring ways possible. But, worst of all, the picture is emotionally stilted, lacking realism and intimacy.
During the first section — in the form of a flashback — we’re introduced to Zaperini as a young lad who goes from being a troublemaker to an Olympian. He steals a couple bottles of alcohol, gets into a fight with a group of boys, gets lectured by his father, cleans up his act with the help of his older brother Pete (Alex Russell) and becomes the best high school mile runner in the country. Clearly, this is supposed to be a defining period in his life, but Jolie hurtles through this material like it’s no big deal and sprinkles in some really bad dialogue to compensate.
On top of that, Jolie does such a shoddy job of establishing the relationship between Louis and Pete that when they say goodbye as Louis is heading off to the Berlin Olympics, you feel no connection whatsoever.
The rest of the movie follows on a similar path, dully going from one plot point to the next without developing character. Interactions between Zaperini and the various people he encounters along the way are cold and inauthentic. Even the attempts at humor feel forced and robotic.
Newcomer Jack O’Connell has already proven that he has massive acting talent with the emotionally raw father-son prison drama “Starred Up” from earlier this year. As Zaperini, he does the best he can with an underwritten character. For being the center of attention, there’s simply not enough dimension to Louis. Outside of wanting to survive he doesn’t appear to have much personality. With its lack of a compelling, well-rounded protagonist, “Unbroken” lacks an emotional core.
The supporting actors are given even less to work with. Other talented, young, up-and-comers like Domhnall Gleeson (“About Time”) and Garrett Hedlund (“Inside Llewyn Davis”) pop their heads in every so often, barely making an impression.
Japanese star Takamasa Ishihara is probably treated the worst: As Mutsushiro Watanabe, the leader of the POW camp, he has no purpose other than to be a massive jerk to Louis. In a movie purporting to be based on a true story, no character should come off this cartoony.
The prison camp section encompasses the majority of the movie’s running time, and yet, it still manages to become repetitive and unmoving. Jolie makes sure to portray plenty of torture and suffering, but since she fails to develop the humanity aspect, these scenes are bloodless.
“Unbroken” was filmed by master cinematographer and frequent Coen Brothers collaborator Roger Deakins, and as to be expected, the film is elegantly staged. At the same time, though, considering the subject matter, things can look a little too neat and polished, especially for a grimy, muddy POW camp. And with the lack of story substance or character development the picture can look like a handsome wax exhibit in a World War II museum.
In an attempt to make an honest, uplifting and intense account of one man’s incredible story, Jolie has made a dull, by-the-numbers, historical drama.