Jack O’Connell’s name exploded this year following the success of “Sinners” and his appearance as Remmick, as well as his disturbing cameo in “28 Years Later.” The truth is, though, he’s been grinding away for years in some equally impressive and unfortunately forgotten films, three of which were all released in the same year. Back in 2014, O’Connell made a massive push on the big screen and appeared in three separate war films that were all released mere months apart, with one being ever so slightly far-fetched than the rest. A year after his exceptional performance opposite Ben Mendelsohn in the prison drama “Starred Up,” O’Connell went it alone in “’71”, which saw him as a soldier stranded in Belfast when the riots during the Troubles of Northern Ireland broke out in 1971.
The film marked a directorial debut for Yann Demange, who has since gone on to direct “White Boy Rick,” the pilot episode of the short-lived series “Lovecraft Country,” and was one of the many filmmakers who tried to take on “Blade” for the MCU, before parting with it last year. “’71” was thankfully an exceptional example of work from both the star and its director and is absolutely worth a watch. As for the other two? One still stands as a rather disappointing sequel following on from a groundbreaking hack-and-slash chunk of cinema, while the other was a true story bursting with awards-grabbing potential but just didn’t quite make the cut, even with Angelina Jolie at the helm.
Read more: 10 Completed Movies That Were Never Released
Jack O’Connell finished 2014 with 300: Rise of an Empire and Unbroken
Jack O’Connell as Louis “Louie” Zamperini in Unbroken with wood over his shoulders and covered in dirt – Universal Pictures
After impressing audiences with his blunt and brutal appearance in “’71,” O’Connell joined the fold of musclebound sword-wielding soldiers following in the footsteps of a small band of Spartans with “300: Rise of an Empire.” While not a particularly prominent role, O’Connell stood alongside the heroes of the so-so sequel to Zack Snyder’s slow-motion extravaganza, taking on the role of Calisto. While not receiving as warm a reception as its predecessor, O’Connell, along with the likes of Eva Green and Sullivan Stapleton, certainly didn’t hold back in this okay action movie. It was in November that year, however, when O’Connell’s name became a pretty popular one when he took the lead in the frankly unbelievable WWII story, “Unbroken.”
Written by the Coen Brothers, Richard LaGravenese, and William Nicholson, “Unbroken” was adapted from a book penned by Laura Hillenbrand and directed by Angelina Jolie. O’Connell took the lead as Louis “Louie” Zamperini, a real-life American Olympian who, after joining the war, went down in a bomber plane and was left stranded for 47 days at sea before being captured by Japanese forces and held as a prisoner of war. While earning a pretty poor reception from critics (the film has a 53% score on Rotten Tomatoes), O’Connell was praised for his performance. While it might not sit among the actor’s most popular films to date, let’s just be glad that he could have a similar streak of success between this year and next when he returns to the rage-infected universe with “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.”
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