:
Kevin Costner,
Bruce Greenwood,
Steven Culp,
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Roger Donaldson
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: New Line Home Video
: Drama, Political Thriller
: 147 min.
: English
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Director Roger Donaldson teams up with star Kevin Costner for another political thriller (after their 1987 pairing, No Way Out), only this time with a film based on the actual events surrounding the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, taking place during the titular thirteen days wherein the U.S. and the Soviet Union nearly engaged in full-scale nuclear war. After President John F. Kennedy (Bruce Greenwood) is shown photographs from a spy plane detailing the presence of missiles in Cuba capable of obliterating massive areas of the U.S., he must immediately decide the most effective course of action for the country. With the aid of best friend and special assistant Kenny O'Donnell (Kevin Costner) and brother Robert (Steven Culp), the President must avoid a dire chain of events that could be dictated by General Curtis LeMay (Kevin Conway), who would rather take immediate action and invade Cuba. After initial reticence about leaking the information to the nation, President Kennedy eventually tells of the conflict, leading to widespread panic and a blockade of Cuba. With the aid of Robert McNamara (Dylan Baker) and Adlai Stevenson (Michael Fairman), the leaders must find a way to alleviate the tension of the situation. Thirteen Days also features Walter Adrian as Lyndon Johnson. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
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| Great opening
by thingstodo
February 6, 2006 - 9:50 AM PST
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1 out of 1 members found this review helpful
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As if to make up for the lack of action throughout the rest of the film, there were some very spectacular shots of nuclear explosions in the opening shots. If only that power were harness for constructive uses....
Anyway. I'll warn you no: don't expect ANY chase scenes, fight scenes, or anything resembling action in this movie, and you'll do fine.
There's a lot of talk in the movie. And then there is more talk. There is one or two exciting (and dangerous) flight sequences of U2s and fighter jets used in a dual-purposed recon mission, but for the most part, this movie is about talking. If you're interested in the subject matter (i.e. Cuban crisis, cold war, U2s, Kennedy bros in their prime), it's interesting talk.
The Kennedies are portrayed in very good light (no mention of Marilyn), reminiscent of the fairy tale that was "The American President." Admittedly this one involves a significantly more serious scenario: a deadly game of chess between the Kennedy admistration and the USSR (and there were sacrificial pawns) brought on by a bold aggressive move by the latter in seeding Cuba with nuclear missiles.
One challenge these movies have is that they can't really count on any suspense at the holistic level. While the fate of "minor" characters remains in question, you're not gonna wonder as you're watching it whether there will be a nuclear war between the two superpowers (if there were, you wouldn't be sitting here reading this.) So the whole thing is tested by how well the story is told, as opposed to where the plot takes you.
So on the whole, we all know what eventually happens. I'm sure it's not a spoiler for you to say that eventually peace prevailed between the two giants, only to remain in a stalemate with more deaths of sacrificial pawns up until that late '80s when one of the two finally succumbed to attrition.
It was interesting to watch how the military was so ready to take the safety off and jump into action without so much as to think about the repercussions (beyond the next military move). And the Kennedies were fighting battles with the war hawks both outside and inside the country at the time.
Unfortunately we get very little insight at what was going on at the USSR side. Was there a coup of the hardliners that sabotage any peace attempts by Khrushchev? I have a feeling that there may have been significantly more intrigue over there at the time. Makes one wonder how the current adminstration would have handled a similar threat.
Now that's a thriller with an open ending.
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 6.95)
55 Votes
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