Movie Review: 'Unbroken' slow, but inspiring story about human spirit

Genre: War drama

Rating: ***

Cast: Jack O'Connell, Domhnall Gleeson, Miyavi

Director: Angelina Jolie

Language: English

It all sounds realistic. Literally. The opening sequence will grab you well and good with brilliant sound effects as planes fly, bombard and get broken. Based on the life story of US Olympian and athlete Louis "Louie" Zamperini (O'Connell), Unbroken gets into the past, present and future of WWII, all the while narrating the story of a deeply personal triumph.

As you are yanked back and forth in time from Zamperini's humble beginnings to a plane crash and surviving 47 days on a raft, only to end up as Japan's prisoner of war, Jolie makes you feel strongly for the spirit of endurance in man. She, however, takes the longest route possible there and in the process, loses some of the impact.

The interesting narrative tone she picks up in the beginning seems to be forgotten midway and the beautiful segue ways between old and new are slowly replaced by music (Alexandre Desplat of Harry Potter fame) with an emotional pitch. It's beautiful, but gets old fast.

At one point, the film starts to resemble Life of Pi, and you wonder where it intends to go. But, Jolie brings it back on track and regroups with skill to give face to stories of individual torture in a longdrawn world war. While O'Connell is an extremely able Zamperini, he still seems to be holding back.

Ultimately, though, it is the natural affectations of Gleeson as Phil and Miyagi as the unrepentant torturer 'The Bird' Watanabe that will stay with you long after.

In her second outing, Jolie has successfully established her credentials as a director to look out for in a film co-scripted by the Coen brothers, Richard LaGravenese and William Nicholson.

However, the extremely clean look achieved by cinematographer Roger Deakins can sometimes be too impeccable for a war film that claims to be about the grime and bottoming out, yet never giving up.

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