Review of Unbroken (2014) by Dana F — 24 Oct 2015

An apt subtitle for this movie would be "Unbroken: The Tale of One Man's Interminable Suffering."  And let me tell ya, there is a WHOLE LOT of suffering going on... and not much else.  It's baffling, but despite the heartrending plot, the movie packs zero emotional punch.

  The story is told purely as a series of (unfortunate) events, there are no relationships to become invested in and the characters aren't developed well.  The focus of the film is so firmly fixed on the narrative that even the hero's character is poorly developed.

.. by the end of the film, you still know nothing about the man himself... only that he was Unbroken.  Even so, the film's greatest detriment is its constant heaviness. It's absolutely humorless, and the audience needs a break from the oppressive story, even if the hero doesn't get one.

  For Christ's sake, even Schindler's List had moments of levity!  It's just too much.  The film as a whole is decent enough - the narrative itself is solid, the pacing is good and the acting is top notch, with a career-making turn by Jack O'Connell as the lead.

   Director Angelina Jolie does a good job with the technical aspects of the film, but not so much with the storytelling.  It's also a bit too conventional for a modern film, complete with cheeseball swelling music and gimmicky taglines that reminded me of films that were made 20 or 30 years ago ("Stay gold, Ponyboy!").

  I don't want to take away from the story itself, which is honestly amazing and from what I've read, the film is very true-to-fact (even a bit watered down).  I just wish Jolie had focused more on the man himself, who is truly an inspirational character, rather than the events that happened to him.

  She is absolutely earnest in her efforts, but she spent so much time trying to get the details exactly right that she neglects what makes the story interesting in the first place: the man behind it.

  This film is proof that a great story does not always equal a great movie.