Unbroken Review
Skyler Powers
Unbroken is the new movie in theaters directed by actress-turned-director, Angelina Jolie, and starring actor, Jack O’Connell. The film follows the true story of the Olympic runner, Louis Zamperini (1917-2014). Before his true running talents can shine, he is drafted into World War II and the Olympics are cancelled. While on a rescue mission, Zamperini and his crew crash land in the Pacific Ocean and drift on a raft for weeks, only to be captured and tortured by the Japanese. This is a heartwarming story of survival, resilience, and redemption.
The acting in this film is good to great. No actor or actress was bad in the film, but, to me, no one stood out besides O’Connell. The visuals in this movie are great and really life-like. However, the movie lacks some of the inspiration that the novel, written by Laura Hillenbrand, brought to the table. In some parts, it seems to drag along and it loses the message of the book. The events in the movie don’t always come across as inspirational or they seem forced and unnatural compared to the events is the book. On the other hand, the movie does have its fair share of truly inspirational moments, tear-jerking moments, and even comedic moments which make up for many of the bumps along the way.
Fans of the novel should be warned that due to the length of the book, much of the end of the story is cut out and shortened to pictures and blurbs right before the end credits. This was a smart decision, but fans still may be upset with the modification. In the end, good acting and some very great moments carried the film along and I was able to mostly overlook the issues it had. This movie is not as great and inspirational as I hoped it would be, but it is not at all bad. It is a good film with a good message and gets its story through to the audience in an effective fashion.
