Watching ’71, it’s easy to see why Jack
O’Connell caused so much heat in 2014. Seeing what he’s able to do here, in
Yann Demange’s story of a young soldier abandoned in the violent streets of
Belfast in 1971, it makes Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken, where
he also plays the lead, even more of a disappointment. As incredible as
O’Connell is, however, ’71 is much more than just a stage
for the on-the-rise actor, and the film is a gripping,
so-tense-you-can-hardly-bear-it story of survival and the horrors of war. It
also marks Demange, who makes his feature directorial debut after working
extensively in television, as a talent to watch right along side his star.
