Unbroken

I had no particular expectations from this movie. But I must just say that however high I might have set the limits of expectation, Unbroken would surely have broken them. This movie was so superb to watch that it ripped me to bits inside. You can see the excellent results of all the hard work that went into this. Acting performances of great bravado, the scenery and the production blended together with each other perfectly. The storyline got me by the heart strings and I will be processing the emotions that the movie left inside me for a long time hence. The wonderful steady rise in tension throughout the movie is reflected in the score I give this, which is a full set of 5*. (11/05/2015)

It is visible that Angelina learned from masters, but it didn't help her much in just shooting something that is terribly typical for Americans. It is a strong story, but personally, I think I would prefer it in a book format. There are big scenes, there are wonderfully harsh scenes, but overall it is just an effort to show how some Americans had a difficult time. Louis's story is captivating and cruelly beautiful, but in this film adaptation, it didn't touch me as much. (01/02/2015)

Angelina Jolie managed to show up even Clint Eastwood with this film, without the pathos I expected, but with a powerful story and the excellent Jack O'Connell in the leading role. She didn’t achieve this by being original, but by employing an accurate, clean, old-school Hollywood narrative like those done by Edward Zwick or Ron Howard. With a nod to Forrest Gump, the film completely overshadows prison stories like Hart's War and paraphrases the idea of The Shawshank Redemption. Of course, it is questionable if she could have completed such an ambitious project without the Coen brothers as screenwriters and Roger Deakins as the cinematographer. But let’s not be mean. It’s still not bad for the former Lara Croft. (16/02/2015)

A strong story, excellently shot and acted. I was (pleasantly) surprised by the large space dedicated to staying in the lifeboat, I was entertained by the credible power of the spirit that emanated from the protagonist from start to finish, and I did not see any unnecessary pathos for even a moment, which I was originally a little worried about. Everything was human, Roger Deakins' camera was beautiful as ever (he did great especially with the aforementioned richly yellow boat on the surface of the blue ocean), Alexander Desplat's music was this time mostly rather inconspicuous, but in a few important moments not to be overlooked, and Angelina Jolie again directed in that Eastwood (and perhaps a little Spielberg) style - clearly, lightly and every now and then with some great shot, such as when the boat arrives in the shadow of a Japanese ship (the ocean again, I know). (22/11/2017)

Angelina Jolie surprises with her old-fashioned, consistent direction and a very conscious tone that permeates the entire film. There aren't many highlights, but the standard is maintained throughout. Unfortunately, the pacing (the drive) fails dramatically and doesn't hold consistency. Given the fantastic opening ten minutes, which suitably lure you in, there is a sense of stagnation throughout the rest of this adventure story, which has the basic plot premise of The Shawshank Redemption, but a bit lower in quality. Essentially without sentimentality – thumbs up for that. The women in Hollywood have been balling it up proficiently recently (Bigelow, Jolie). The acting is fine, and Roger Deakins is a safe bet. (16/07/2016)