Unbroken Film Review

I had been excited to see 'Unbroken' the minute I watched the preview shown during the Sochi winter Olympics. It had looked stunning and the story seemed interesting. I honestly could not wait. However there were 10 long months to go before the film was released. So to help fill the time I picked up the book that the film was based on. From the moment I 'turned' the first page on my Kindle, I was hooked. Louis Zamperini leapt from the pages and became bigger than life itself. I routed for him from the beginning and sped through the book like it was a Dan Brown novel. Every-time I had to put it down, I couldn't wait to pick it up again. The book was powerful, sad and in the end inspiring. With every page I marvelled at how Louis had made it through his ordeal. When I finally 'closed' the book for the last time, my hunger for the film had only increased. And so it was with great trepidation that I settled into my seat to watch this film I had waited so long for. And sadly to say, I had waited in vain. I won't say the movie was bad. The actors were very good, especially Domhnall Gleeson. In the next year he will certainly be one to watch and I hope he earns the fame he so deserves. The shooting style was visually pleasing something that I had worried would be hard to achieve considering so much of it takes place on the open seas. However somewhere between page and screen the magic of Louis Zamperini's story was lost. His suffering became trivialized and his journey back to redemption was cut from the film entirely. It had become any other war film about any number of soldiers and this was a great disservice to the man that had inspired so many. I understand that movies adapted from books will almost never live up to expectations, but 'Unbroken' didn't even try and this can be scene with the bad pacing in the script and the exclusion of important story points. If you enjoy biographies and inspirational stories than do yourself a favour and pick up a copy of Laura Hillenbrand's book 'Unbroken' at your nearest library or book store. If you want a war film, watch Unbroken, just don't expect to be changed or moved by it. ** two stars

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