Review of Unbroken (2014) by Headcrusher — 01 Jan 2015

I was telling everyone I know - read the book before you see the movie - as I knew there would be large chunks of the story left untold - if for no other reason that the time limits of average films. I was certain that some of the more subliminal plot points of Louie's story would be left behind - and they were.

The book tells the true story of Louis Zamperini. As a child he was known as the Torrance terror - always getting into trouble - then as a young adult he discovered he could run - and run fast with some training - which turned him into an Olympic athlete. After the Olympics Louie was drafted into WW2 and eventually went missing after their plane was lost at sea. He and his surviving crew members miraculously endured more than 40 days on a raft before they were "rescued" by Japanese soldiers who took them to prison camp and tortured them relentlessly. After the war was over Louie came back home and suffered from PTSD until he ..... ( the movie skips everything after the return to America and thus misses the glue that brings the moral and spiritual conclusion of the story - That Louie was never alone and that God had been watching over him the whole time - Louie went on to forgive his captors, start a camp for troubled boys and became an inspirational speaker for many).

So the problem of this film is it only tells part of the story. In my opinion there should have been part one and two - part one could have covered everything from his childhood to the raft -(you'd have to go back for part 2 after that) and part 2 could have covered everything from the raft to the boys camp. There's still an opportunity for someone else to tell part 2 of the difficulty of the POWs returning to civilian life.