Unbroken

Directed by Angelina Jolie and adapted from the Laura Hillenbrand nonfiction bestseller about Olympic-athlete-turned-World War II-prisoner-of-war Louis Zamperini, Unbroken is a contemptible and unrewarding film, a depersonalized catalog of beautifully photographed torture and suffering. Even still, the most damning criticism I can levy against Unbroken is that despite boasting a script by Joel and Ethan Coen (with co-writing credits for fellow script doctor legends Richard LaGravenese and William Nicholson), there is nothing remotely Coen-esque about this movie (wit and intelligence are most sorely missed). It goes on like that—Jolie assembles a fabulous group of collaborators, including composer Alexandre Desplat (The Grand Budapest Hotel), the Coen Brothers' house cinematographer Roger Deakins, editor William Goldenberg (Zero Dark Thirty), and rising star Jack O'Connell (Starred Up and the upcoming '71) as Zamperini, but their collective harmonies are soulless and contrived, and Jolie makes for an indifferent conductor.