Surprising Angelina was hired
The book "Unbroken" by Lauren Hillenbrand was a huge bestseller. No doubt many directors vied to be hired on the movie production.
Possibly Jolie/Pitt's production company optioned the book with the highest bid so Jolie could direct the movie. I don't know the background of who optioned the rights. Certainly Hillenbrand was paid a fortune, because the book already had a huge following.
Why was Angelina Jolie hired to direct such an incredibly complex story as Unbroken? This book from just a mere glance would be extremely difficult to translate to the big screen due to the layers in the stories of the war, of the wayward boy who became an Olympic athlete, the terrifying plane crash and survival at sea only to be brought to the Japanese camp and tortured. This is not a movie-of-the-week. This is a major undertaking of storytelling and film direction. Angelina Jolie did not have the experience or background in directing to tackle a major story with so many multiple complex layers...and it shows. One supposes her ego was flattered to get the job, but she set herself up for failure. There were huge gaps in the storytelling, and the entire movie was unbalanced, leaving out massive chunks of character development. Louis's story was never really told in full.
It's amazing the actors pulled off so many difficult scenes without looking foolish. In Jolie's clumsy hands, it's surprising people and critics have were so polite about this mediocre movie.
With all her good intentions, Ms.Jolie simply doesn't have the chops to do a movie of this kind. She should try doing some simple dramas in controlled environments such as a few buildings, with a handful of characters, and less multi-layered social and political issues. Jolie got in way over her head on this. Not recommended.