The words “based on a true story” can strike dread in the heart of the frequent moviegoer, since so often a film is made no more interesting by the fact that it’s about actual events. The real-life tale spun by “Unbroken” definitely rates as quite a yarn, but it’s a testament to director Angelina Jolie and a team of A-list screenwriters (Joel and Ethen Coen, Richard La Gravenese, William Nicholson, adapting the book by “Seabiscuit” author Laura Hillenbrand) that it plays out so effectively.
Recounting the extraordinary life story of Louis Zamperini (played by Jack O’Connell, “Starred Up”) — who ran for America in the 1936 Olympics, survived a plane crash during World War II, stayed afloat for 75 days on a life raft before forced internment in a series of Japanese POW camps — Jolie and company seem to be digging into the Spielberg playbook: The movie offers up sun-dappled nostalgia for Depression-era Southern California, harrowing wartime sequences, and even a shark attack, but it serves them all up with maximum efficiency.