Jolie goes for broke in 'Unbroken'
No wonder Angelina Jolie's World War II drama "Unbroken" beams with technical craftsmanship and meticulous attention to detail.
To tell the more-amazing-than-fiction survival story of American Olympic athlete Louis Zamperini, Jolie saddled up with the best in the biz.
She hired cinematographer Roger Deakins to shoot the drama's rich, tightly composed scenes.
She got the Coen brothers (Joel and Ethan), Richard LaGravenese and William Nicholson to write the screenplay, based on Laura Hillenbrand's book.
She secured the versatile and prolific French composer Alexandre Desplat to create a score swelling with dignified bombast. (This year, Desplat supplied scores to "The Imitation Game," "Godzilla," "The Monuments Men" and "The Grand Budapest Hotel.")
Then, production designer Jon Hutman provided some raw authenticity by transforming Australian sets into a World War II Japanese prisoner of war camp.
Directing her second movie, erstwhile actress Jolie demonstrates a knack for letting the story unfold at a proper pace, and giving her cast room to breathe, think, and communicate with faces and gestures.
And yet, "Unbroken" doesn't quite pack the power to become the awe-inspiring tale of survival Jolie clearly wants it to be.
"Unbroken" follows Louis (a confident, transparent performance by charismatic newcomer Jack O'Connell), an Olympic runner and (later) U.S. Air Force bombardier who, after being shot down, barely survived 47 days at sea, then spent two years as a Japanese POW under a cruel commander called "The Bird" (Japanese singer-songwriter Miyavi in his smooth movie debut).
At sea, Louis and two other plane crash survivors - a pilot (Domhnall Gleeson) and a tail gunner (Finn Wittrock) - deal with having no food or fresh water, sharks and hot sun.
Jolie orchestrates this segment with slow-simmer suspense, relying at one point on an obvious reference to Steven Spielberg's "Jaws" for the drama's scariest moment.
Once picked up by the Japanese, Louis endures harsh treatment from the Bird, who decides to make an example of the Olympian by subjecting him to tortures and tests to break him, such as forcing every prisoner to punch Louis in the face.
Guess what doesn't happen?
This could be why "Unbroken" never quite convinces us that Louis is in any true danger of being killed or injured. The title kind of gives away the end. Plus, the real Louis recently died in July at the age of 97. We know he lives.
Unlike "The Right Stuff" which convinced us astronaut John Glenn might be fried at any moment during a flawed re-entry (Glenn was actually running for president when the film was released), "Unbroken" goes through dangers and torments in which Louis Zamperini comes off a bit like a 20th century Hercules.
"If you can take it," Louis' brother tells him when they're kids, "you can make it!"
This serves as the movie's theme, plus describes Jolie, who proves that a woman other than Kathryn Bigelow can direct a male-dominated military drama in a fiercely male-dominated industry.
“Unbroken”
★ ★ ★
Starring: Jack O'Connell, Myavi, Domhnall Gleeson, Finn Wittrock, Garrett Hedlund
Directed by: Angelina Jolie
Other: A Universal Pictures release. Rated PG-13 for violence, language. 137 minutes