This movie’s biggest star...isn’t on screen. You’re watching Beyond The Trailer’s review of Unbroken...
This was supposed to be the film that took Angelina Jolie’s career to a new level. The Oscar
winning actress - and tabloid staple - had dabbled in directing before with In the Land
of Blood and Honey, yet it seemed she would finally become a legitimate director with
Unbroken. And it’s now or never to be one of the first top female directors, as the
glass ceiling seems to finally be breaking. Jolie beat out plenty of male directors for
the coveted gig of adapting Laura Hillenbrand’s bio of World War 2 hero Louie Zamperini, and
none other than Joel and Ethan Coen had worked on the script. And Universal said they were
so pleased with the results that they were going to make Jolie one of their in-house
directors, eagerly greenlighting her next directorial effort By the Sea - which she
also scripted and will star in, opposite husband Brad Pitt. Oh, but what a difference a single
week - and a few emails - can make. First it was revealed that behind closed doors Hollywood
actually didn’t think much of its self-proclaimed queen - as Sony head Amy Pascal and producer
Scott Rudin called Jolie a “minimally talented spoiled brat” in a leaked email exchange.
But even beyond the name calling, it became clear that Jolie was difficult to work with
and perhaps even unprofessional. She wanted David Fincher to direct her in Cleopatra,
so much so that she was willing to torpedo the Aaron Sorkin Steve Jobs bio if Fincher
took that instead. Both films were Rudin’s and set-up at Sony, but Jolie’s meddling
was such a problem Rudin ending up taking the Jobs bio to Universal - and he, noted,
the whole thing was ridiculous as Jolie had made it clear Cleopatra wasn’t even her
top priority as she’d back-burnered it for Unbroken. The, that debacle was quickly followed
by not a single Golden Globe nomination for Unbroken. And remember, the Golden Globes
love Jolie so much they embarrassed themselves by showering The Tourist with three nominations
back in 2011. And after an awkward run it with Pascal at an event for The Hollywood
Reporter - a picture of which made the rounds online - Jolie took to YouTube to proclaim
she had a mild case of chicken pox and would be sitting out all remaining publicity for
Unbroken. And just weeks earlier she’d proudly graced the covers of Entertainment Weekly
and Vanity Fair to promote the film. Now former UK Skins star Jack O’Connell, Star Wars
Episode 7’s Domhnall Gleeson, Garrett Hedlund, Jai Courtney and Japanese music star Miyavi
will be forced to promote Unbroken on their own. Is it a shame that industry politics
have torpedoed the rise of Angelina Jolie as a director, and Zamperini’s life story
reaching the silver screen? Or are Pascal and Rudin RIGHT about Jolie?
and
Rudin
right
about Jolie...?