I find movies that have the elements of greatness and fail to utilize them far more frustrating than an outright terrible film like God’s Not Dead or Transformers: Age Of Extinction. Not even Wes Anderson could have made Trans4mers compelling, whereas Unbroken has all the ingredients of being terrific right at it’s feet. The story of Louie Zamperini is an astonishing one full of courage and bravery ripe for an effective cinematic depiction, and sadly, Unbroken just doesn’t utilize it.

Problems with the feature are evident from the beginning, as a well-staged aerial fight sequence is interrupted by a flashback to Louie as a kid. He was a rambunctious scamp, don’tcha know, and my fears from the movies trailers of these sequences being trite certainly come to pass. They honestly feel like SNL skits parodying sports movie cliches played entirely straight, namely in Louie’s brother who drops axioms of wisdom in the film like they’re the next “Life is like a box of chocolates”.

But here’s the weird part about these flashbacks; there’s only two of them! They’re extended sequences to be sure, but they don’t run throughout the movie like I thought they would. Their lack of presence just makes their inclusion in the film even more baffling, as they take up enough time in the film to drag down the pacing considerably, without adding anything of substance in the film. Take them out, and the film as it stands would be no different. It’s kind of shocking such extraneous material makes it into the film, especially considering how much it damages the movie as a whole.

Another aspect dragging down the movie is Jack O’Connell as Louie. As you can imagine, the movie spends a ton of time with him, and that amount of time just sort of reinforces how bland O’Connell’s performance is. There’s little personality to him prior to the various tragedies that befall him (being stranded at sea and stuck in a concentration camp namely), and that reduces the impact they have on the story. O’Connell’s performance lacks the depth necessary to make the films depiction of Zamperini’s experiences truly work.

At least Roger Deakins brings neat cinematography to the proceedings, and Angelina Jolie’s directing is decent enough. I didn’t think it was top-notch, Damien Chazelle level stuff, but it works competently enough. It’s weird; writing this review, I realize there’s little I truly abhorred about Unbroken, but there’s also little I find worthy of mentioning or recognizing. This isn’t a trainwreck for the ages or a glorious masterpiece, rather it’s a forgettable film with some effective moments interspersed with middling elements.

Oh, I will say the film does have one truly memorable moment; for some reason, there’s a moment where Louie Zamperini kicks a shark. It occurs in a really dramatic scene too, only heightening it’s absurdity.