Based on the best-selling book by Laura Hillenbrand, Unbroken tells the true story of Olympian and prisoner of war Louis Zamperini. This is a film with a promising set of ingredients: Angelina Jolie at the helm, rising star Jack O’Connell in the lead role and Joel and Ethan Coen credited as screenwriters. Although it is tantalisingly positioned as Oscar-bait, this epic war picture falls far short of expectations.
A bomber pilot in World War II, Louis and his crew were conducting a search mission when their plane suffered mechanical difficulties and crashed into the Pacific Ocean. He and a crewmate survived 47 days on a raft in shark-infested waters. They were eventually captured by the Japanese Navy and held in prisoner of war camps for the next two-and-a-half years, enduring cruelty and back-breaking labour.
Aside from the relationship between Louis and surviving crewmate Russell ‘Phil’ Phillips (Domhnall Gleeson), there are few moments of genuine connection and camaraderie between characters. The Zamperini family borders on stereotype, painted as church-attending and gnocchi-making Italian immigrants. Much of the film is devoted to portraying the physical hardships of the Japanese prison camps, focusing on a particularly sadistic guard (Takamasa Ishihara). This unrelenting depiction of brutality becomes quite gruelling. Only towards the end is there a glimmer of character nuance. While redemption is a big theme in Hillenbrand’s book, it’s more of an afterthought in Jolie’s film.
To be fair, there is an exhilarating opening sequence and O’Connell, who impressed critics in ’71 and Starred Up, is solid as Zamperini. But this is a film that tries too hard to be emotive and indulges too heavily in ‘good’ and ‘bad’. Overall, there is a textbook quality to Unbroken that makes it feel quite stale. In spite of a genuinely amazing true story, it is more fatiguing than inspiring.
2.5/5 stars
Unbroken
