My, oh my. Where do we begin? The new trailer for Unbroken — Angelina Jolie's latest directorial effort — stormed onto the web today. And, just like that, the WWII saga has officially leap-frogged Mockingjay, Interstellar, and Birdman as our most anticipated film of the fall.
Unbroken tells the true story of POW Louis Zamperini, the Olympic runner who survived a plane crash in the Pacific only to be nabbed by the Japanese and put through what's best described as a living hell.
Based on the stunning clip below, Unbroken will be four Oscar-bait films rolled into one: A sports movie chronicling Zamperini's journey as a long distance runner; a romance about his pre-war love affair; a lost-at-sea survival adventure; and a rousing prisoner-of-war parable.
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There are also three marvels here. Number one is Jack O’Connell, the British thesp who first gained notice in the little-seen but highly acclaimed films Starred Up and '71. His performance as Zamperini in Unbroken looks positively transcendent. As awards season chugs along, O'Connell should have household-name status locked up.
The second is Jolie. This is only her second time out as a feature director, and to tackle a movie of this size and scope with so little experience behind the camera is just flat-out impressive. Maleficent is so far the second highest-grossing film of the year, but her acting career is about to take a major backseat. By Oscar season, when we're talking about America's elite directors, expect Jolie to be at the top of the heap.
The third is M83, the French electronic act whose song "Wait" soundtracks the trailer's climax, and will have you picking your jaw up from off the floor.
Speaking of which, does anyone have a broom? Unbroken hits theaters on Christmas Day.
Photo: REX USA/Rex.