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Dayton Business Journal
Flick picks:
‘Unbroken,’ ‘Into the Woods’ offer inspiring, entertaining holiday
diversions
Dec 24, 2014
Annlee Ellingson
Amid a deluge of prestige pictures this holiday weekend, two titles are
especially suited for a family film outing. "Unbroken" is an inspiring,
though oddly unmoving, true story of American prowess, endurance and
resilience, while "Into the Woods" is an entertaining, if awkward,
adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's hit Broadway musical. Either would be
a fine Christmas diversion; neither is great cinema.
As chronicled in Laura Hillenbrand's best-selling book and now Angelina
Jolie's film "Unbroken," Louis "Louie" Zamperini (Jack O'Connell), who
died in July at age 97, lived not one incredible life but several — any
of which would make a compelling story on its own. He was a world-class
runner who placed eighth in the 5,000-meter race at the 1936 Berlin
Olympics, though he clocked a record 56-second final lap that caught
the attention of Adolph Hitler. He was a World War II bombardier whose
B-24 Liberator crashed in the South Pacific, stranding him and two
fellow soldiers on a raft at sea for 47 days — another record. They
were "rescued" by the Japanese Navy, and Louie spent the next two years
in a series of POW camps, where he attracted the attention of a
particularly sadistic prison commander named Mutsuhiro Watanabe
(Japanese rock star Miyavi), aka "The Bird."
Louie survived all of this only to return home with crippling PTSD and
alcoholism, but Jolie's film doesn't get to that. He also eventually
found the Lord and embarked on a mission of forgiveness that culminated
with a reunion with his tormentors in Japan, though the Bird refused to
meet with him. But what was perhaps the defining moment in this man's
amazing life is relegated to a footnote in the film...
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