Reel Critics: Unmoved by ‘Unbroken’; ‘Interview’ bombs

“Unbroken” was adapted from Laura Hillenbrand’s best-selling novel “Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption.” Under the direction of Angelina Jolie, the survival part is quite apparent; resilience and redemption are given short shrift.

Louis Zamperini’s life was remarkable, and the film’s focus is about the scrappy kid turned Olympic runner, crash survivor and POW camp survivor. I would have loved to have seen how he coped after the war, rather than having it told to me in a footnote.

Jolie gives us some memorable moments of aerial combat and the horrors of being adrift for 47 days on a raft in the South Pacific. The scenes of Zamperini’s brutal torment by the “Bird,” a sadistic Japanese officer, eerily played by Japanese singing star Miyavi, are fraught with tension.

Unfortunately, pacing and dialogue fall flat everywhere else in this well-meaning film. We don’t learn what these men did to mentally survive. Everything is just stiff-upper-lip platitudes that keep us from connecting more deeply with the characters. And that’s a shame, given that the film had no less than four distinguished writers to hammer out a screenplay: Joel and Ethan Coen, Richard LaGravenese and William Nicholson.

Jack O’Connell gives a solid, physically challenging performance as Zamperini. Domhnall Gleeson and Finn Wittrock play fellow crash survivors.

If nothing else, “Unbroken” has inspired me to read the book.

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Much ado about ‘The Interview’

At a time of year when a plethora of interesting, original films are being released, it seems a pity that all anyone can talk about is “The Interview,” which has stirred up more controversy than North Korea’s regime.

Was it possible that Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg had written a frat-boy comedy with a social conscience?

Um, no.

World leaders have been satirized even before Charlie Chaplin’s 1940 “The Great Dictator” took a swing at Hitler and Mussolini. Why should North Korea’s Kim Jong Un be immune? “The Interview” certainly makes everyone, most of all stars Rogen and James Franco, into buffoons.

Franco plays a slick tabloid TV host and Rogen his longtime friend and producer. When they learn that North Korea’s supreme leader is a big fan of their show, they seize the opportunity to land an interview that could lend them credence as serious journalists.

The CIA seizes upon the opportunity to have Kim “taken out” (no, not for drinks) by these two without becoming officially involved.

What follows are dumb and dumber antics that involve the male anatomy, sex, drugs — just like any of Rogen’s previous hits, including “Superbad” and “This Is the End.” It’s nothing really new, fresh or consistently funny — except that it demonstrates perhaps the best use ever of a Katy Perry song.

I can see how a movie about assassinating a living world leader could be unsettling, but here the concept is about as dangerous as a Yosemite Sam cartoon. And for irreverent topical humor, you can watch “South Park” for free.

SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant for a company in Irvine.