Review - Unbroken

Louie Zamperini has an incredible life story to tell. The odds were already stacked against him from a young age, growing up as one of four children of an immigrant family in Depression-era California. In spite of this, he made a name for himself as a competitive distance runner, represented America in the Berlin Olympics, served his country as a bombardier in WWII, survived a plane crash that left him stranded for 47 days in the Pacific Ocean, and lived out the remainder of the war in a Japanese POW camp under the harshest conditions imaginable.

Just that cursory synopsis of his bio is enough to make one wonder why his life story hasn't been made into a major motion picture already, but we finally get one in the form of Angelina Jolie's Unbroken, which arrived on Christmas Day. Zamperini passed away in July at 97 years of age, and while no one wants to rain on the posthumous parade of a man who endured through so much struggle, the sad reality is that an incredible true story does not necessarily an incredible movie make.

Unbroken is just not that good a film; A clichéd exercise that reaches for artificial inspiration while saying very little about the figure who serves as its subject. The problem is not in the story, but in the storytelling, as it fails to shape Zamperini's harrowing saga into any kind of effective structure.

Golden Globe nominations: Big gain for 'Selma', death knell for 'Unbroken'?

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association have announced the their nominees for the Golden Globe Awards, adding fuel to the campaign fires of some borderline contenders, but also dousing those of others.

I'll mention my specific commentaries for each individual category after the cut, but for now, a few immediate observations:

-Yesterday's SAG shutout of Selma proved merely to be a byproduct of its late entry into the race, as it popped up in four categories today (including Picture and Director).

-Conversely, Unbroken pulled up a big ole goose egg with both organizations. If any group was gonna chomp at the bit for Angelina Jolie's celebrity, it was the HFPA. It could still squeak out a Best Picture nomination a la War Horse -- another perfect-on-paper Oscar bait movie that disappointed on arrival -- but its hopes are dwindling fast.

-All of yesterday's SAG nominees repeated except for Naomi Watts, which means it'll be hard to anticipate who gets edged out come Oscar time. There's no way we're gonna have a perfect match-up across all three groups.

-The most unhappy snub of the day: John Carney's wonderful Begin Again being completely shut out of the Comedy/Musical categories and even Best Song! Criminal.

Check out all the film nominees and my quick thoughts below:

Early Best Picture Predictions

I've been slower than usual this year at pulling myself out of March's Oscar withdrawal and gearing up for next year's awards, so my apologies to all two of you who have been impatiently itching to see my early predictions. Rest assured they'll be posted on the sidebar by the first of May (my normal deadline for early guesses), but I'll only bother doing a write-up for one category; Best Picture. And here it is: