While some are just starting to get on the Jack O'Connell bandwagon due to his starring role in Angelina Jolie's Unbroken, some have been following him for awhile. He earned rave reviews for his intense performance in the prison drama, Starred Up (review here), but the film that really woke people up was the IRA thriller, '71, and now you can get an idea what the fuss was about.
A new trailer for the film has been released and it captures the incredibly tense, gripping tone captured by O'Connell and director Yann Demange. Set in 1971 Belfast during some of the worst fighting between the IRA and British military, O'Connell plays a British soldier beaten by a mob and left for dead, but must try to survive the night while forces from both sides come looking to finish him off.
This is a film I caught a couple of months ago (review to come) and it was a definite highlight, with O'Connell showing why so many think he's Hollywood's next big thing. '71 hits theaters on February 27th.
