Theatrical Reviews: Unbroken

Unbroken is kind of a dull movie; not a bad movie, just a dull one.  It is about a human being who went through unimaginable hardship and mental stress, but doesn’t have the emotional weight required for such a heady topic.  The performances are fine, the visuals are fine and the story is fine; but there is almost nothing above average about this movie what-so-ever.  It kind of ends up feeling like a made-for-TV flick, which is not something an award-bait film, should be reminding me of.

There have been plenty of films about a character or group of characters that go through intense physical and/or psychological pain and make it out the other side through the power of the human spirit.  And most of those movies have something in common; they all have a decent sized emotional punch to them.  Cast away, for example, was an uplifting piece with plenty of humor and a lovely leading performance, and Prisoners, on the opposite, was an emotional punch in the balls that hurt your soul as you watched.  Unbroken is clearly trying to be one of these movies; but it’s not heavy enough to be provokingly difficult, nor is it charismatic enough to be uplifting and entertaining.

The film isn’t even particularly interesting from an intellectual stance.  The movie states its entire premise in its tagline, “if you can take it you can make it.”  There is nothing below the surface here.  Unbroken has a straightforward and obnoxiously in your face moral message to it that has little value on its own.

Overall the plot is fine, and the movie is sufficiently entertaining for viewers of all ages, though that may not be a good thing (I feel like this movie could have used a little more shock-value to hit home with its audience.)  The characters, while not complex, are serviceable, and their actors try their hardest to turn lackluster dialogue into something meaningful.  Anyone who likes bio-pics will probably eat this up, and world-war 2 fanatics will probably do the same; my problem may be that I am a film fanatic, and that this is simply not a movie made for me. 

Surprising the stand-out among all of the people who worked on this movie is the acting of Takamasa Ishihara, who plays his psychotic prison warden just hammy enough to be memorable, but still believable enough to be credible.  He is the only legitimately scary thing about Unbroken, and his character also happens to be the most compelling.  If the next movie I see about a Japanese internment camp isn’t starring this relative new-comer, I will be supremely disappointed.

So if you like World War 2 and sadistic prison wardens then Unbroken is for you, as for me I think I’ll take a pass next time I get the opportunity.  This was basically Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut, and I really expected more from someone who has been in movies her whole life.  It’s an okay movie that doesn’t do much to distinguish itself from the barrage of okay movies that come out every year.  It’s not a movie worth seeing if you’re looking for a great Oscar-worthy wonder.

Thanks for reading, and for being patient with the lack of activity over the Christmas break.   Check back over the next couple of days for more reviews!