UNBROKEN Review UNBROKEN Review by Carlos Aguilar. Both as an actress and a director, Angelina Jolie has proven to have an affinity for big scale projects, which have yielded mixed results in recent memory. Earlier this year she experienced great success in front of the camera with “Maleficent,” one of the highest grossing films of the year. Granted reviews for the Disney reinvention of the fairy tale were not very positive, but the box-office numbers made up for that in the studio’s eyes. As a helmer, her track record can’t still be quantified with only two features to her name. Her Bosnian-language debut “In the Land of Blood and Honey,” which earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, was not a commercial or critical hit. Still, it was also not a terrible effort. Despite its evident flaws, the film showed promise. At the very least Jolie had made clear that she wanted to venture into serious, issue-driven filmmaking, a decision that contrasts with her status as a Hollywood super star. For “Unbroken,” her second outing in the director’s chair, Jolie decided to go with a biopic that deals with forgiveness and the triumph of the human spirit. Once again the actress-turned director would be working with a story that has an armed conflict at its core. This time around the backdrop is World War II and the subject an Italian-American Olympic runner who became a relentless soldier. As a young man Louis “Louie” Zamperini (played in the film by the amazing Jack O’Connell), was a troublemaker living in California who had little hope to become something greater. Inspired by his brother’s confidence in him, Louie became an impressive athlete and eventually qualified for the 1936 Olympic Games. This portion of his life is glanced at rather quickly in the film if only to enhance the improbable journey the protagonist experienced. Once the film focuses on Zamperini’s military career, then the epic nature of the story takes center stage and is essentially divided into two separate portions that often seem to be parts of two different films. First, the plane crash that leaves Louie and two of his army comrades lost at sea for 47 days. Although this ordeal drags out longer than necessary, it shows us the hero’s exemplary will to live. Sharks, starvation, dreadful weather conditions, and desperation itself try to push the unfortunate soldiers to the edge. Through it all Zamperini is the voice of reason. His ingenuity and outstanding optimism gets them through the ordeal, but only to be taken in as prisoners by the Japanese. This is where the other film begins. Here we meet our villain, Murtsuhiro “The Bird” Watanabe (played by Japanese musician Miyavi), a vengeful and egocentric sergeant who makes it his mission to see Zamperini suffer. As an epic film “Unbroken” is proficient in all aspects and demonstrates that Angelina can handle a production of such magnitude as a director. The problems come from these very visible divide between the sequences that conform the film. “The Bird” wants to break Zamperini by humiliating him and assigning him punishing physical tasks, but their relationship is only relevant to the story for a small period of time, yet we are expected to assume this “turn the other cheek” plot was there all along. By trying to make a film about Zamperini’s time at sea and in the prisoner camp in equal measures takes away from both, which makes them feel disjointed. Perhaps even more shocking is the fact that the screenplay was written partially by the Coen Brothers, known for their unique way to write compelling stories. As a whole the film is as visually impressive as the best war epics in film history. Roger Deakins cinematography is done with the classic beauty of a timeless Hollywood film of this scope. It’s beautiful, impressive, but never overpowering in any stylistic manner. By the same token Desplat music is on point, but perhaps less memorable than his numerous other efforts this year. In the acting department O’Connell stands out due to his physically and emotionally intense performance that adds one more star to his collection of great roles to hit the screens in 2014. “Unbroken” is worth watching just to witness his great ability to embody characters on the edge of breaking down with utmost sensibility. Regardless of its numerous questionable elements, “Unbroken” works and delivers a well-crafted tribute to a really remarkable life even if the uneven writing gets in the way of its success. Angelina Jolie has yet another acceptable film that is not great or unforgettable, but it is not dismissible either. She is fine-tuning her filmmaking skills in every new project, which of course means she is using an outrageously expensive method to learn how to direct films. However, we must admit that her name carries a certain weight, which gives her a lot of free range. This is a luxury that not many can afford. Maybe when her socially conscious ideals cross paths with the right script, her talent as a director will be less scrutinized. Maybe… UNBROKEN is now playing in theaters nationwide.
