Review: Unbroken

Last night I went with a friend to see the movie "Unbroken."

I read the book a couple of years and LOVED it- I really think it should be required reading for high school students. I knew the movie couldn't possibly live up to the book, and unfortunately I was right. If I had not read the book, the movie would have been good- but having read the book, it simply couldn't compete.

Here's my ratings (out of 10):

Book: 10

Movie- having read the book: 6.5

Movie- if I had not read the book: 7.5

**Spoiler Alert**

I very highly recommend the book. It is incredibly depressing, but such an unbelievable true story of survival, heartache, forgiveness, and redemption. You read it and keep thinking, "It can not possibly get worse!" But then, it keeps getting worse.

When watching a movie based off a book, I understand that many elements must be left out. But there were so many poignant pieces of the book that I found changed the entire premise of the book and were missing, and that was depressing.

For example:

-Louis actually shook Hitler's hand at the Olympics, Hitler was so impressed by Louis' last lap that he asked for Louis to come over and shake his hand. Knowing that Louis would then go on to fight against this evil man whose hand he shook was powerful.

-In the movie, we don't get to see just how heinous the Bird was to Louis. It was actually a daily beating that Louis got from him, for absolutely no reason other than the Bird had some sort of sick fascination with him.

-As they are going to crash in the plane, we don't get a sense of the fear that the men had- they all thought they would die, and yet they appear pretty calm in the movie. Perhaps the fear of death is difficult to act out.

-The most important piece of the entire book was the last few chapters- and this was only barely hinted at in the movie. When Louis came home he had severe PTSD. He had horrific nightmares every night- waking up shaking, sweating, disoriented, and in complete fear. He turned to alcohol and quickly became an alcoholic to try and get rid of the pain. He did get married, and his wife was about to leave him.

But, then one night his wife went and saw a traveling preacher speak. His name was Billy Graham. He was in town for two weeks, and she told Louis he needed to go and hear him speak or she was leaving him. He begrudgingly went, and this changed his life.

After hearing Graham, he decided to accept Christ in his life. He quit drinking cold turkey. He learned to forgive those who had tortured him. He found peace, and he went on to live a wonderful life with his wife.

You see, the importance of this book- and why it is so sad that Angelina Jolie completely missed the point- is that Louis Zamperini WAS broken. He was beyond broken- he was a shell of a man who could not function in the world. But, Christ healed him. Christ made him unbroken.

That was missed in the movie- the very point of the whole story. And so, I recommend the book. It's definitely worth the read! But not the movie.