**

The story, co-written by the Coen brothers and others, is based on a blockbuster sized book by Laura Hillenbrand.

Inevitably the story has to be retold. Jolie’s inexperience makes this an uneven exercise. The first half is strong, the second half isn’t, such that I found myself willing the Japanese Commandant to kill our protagonist to put him, and me out of our misery.

Ther movie is formulaic. The beginning has us with the hero, Louis Zamperini (played by Jack O’Connell), in a big bomber heading for some targets against Japan in WWII. As trouble begins, leading to the crash which makes up the real start of the movie, we also get flashbacks to his simple Italian-American childhood. This is effective, but it’s sentimental stuff. And it lets you know the kind of wholesome intentions of the movie. The only thing missing is mommas home made apple pie

There is a lot going on here, in three main sections: running, surviving on a raft, and the prison camps. That Zamperini suffers and endures is the point of the film, and in that way the narrative is very straight forward. There are villains and buddies. The skies rain bombs and the sea is full of sharks. Some people are merciless, and others kind. But in the middle, through every turn and travail, is Zamperini. “If you can take it, you can make it,” is a mantra in the film, and that’s the message. That doesn’t need over two hours.