Unbroken

Though not quite the punch to the gut that was Jolie's directorial debut (In the Land of Blood and Honey), Unbroken is still a powerful tale in it's own right and serves as a phenomenal tribute to Olympian Louis Zamperini, who survived unspeakable hardship while stranded at sea and imprisoned in a Japenese enternment camp. What Zamperini endured and overcame is a testament to the human spirit and amounts to one of the more inspirational true stories you are likely to hear. What could have easily been a schmaltz-fest in lesser hands is handled just right by director Jolie, with a bare minimum of sentimentality and an emphasis on an accurate depiction of the brutality, which pushes the boundaries of the picture's pg-13 rating about as far as they can go. The cast of mostly unknowns is very good, highlighted by Jack O'Connell as Zamperini and especially Takamasa Ishihara as his sadistic tormentor Watanabe. A can't miss story executed to perfection, that by the end, leaves the viewer with an overwhelming sense of triumph.