Review of Thirteen Days (2000) by Brad Y — 06 Jan 2014

From when the film first begins, it's easy to detect a level of staleness that the betrays the source material; for many Americans, the Cuban missile crisis was the most terrifying time to be alive, so why wouldn't it be interesting to see the behind-the-scenes events that stopped the bombs from dropping? Unfortunately, the proceedings are given a decidedly lackluster treatment; random and unexplained switches to black-and-white cinematography only scratch the surface, as the wealth of supremely talented actors are so lamely introduced that it's easy to forget who each is supposed to be.

Though Bruce Greenwood correctly received accolades for his portrayal of JFK, he really doesn't look enough like him for the audience to suspend disbelief, which is especially curious since Steven Culp, portraying RFK, is so eerily similar to his real-life counterpart.

Maybe the biggest mistake is sidling the movie on Kevin Costner's shoulders; with his clunky Boston brogue and scene-stealing that seems to have started in the script, he manages to mangle the tale by making its protagonist a dreary fabrication, especially since surviving members of the Kennedy cabinet routinely say O'Donnell was hardly the person who kept lot of them together.

Still, it's worth seeing for the few good tense moments and for Dylan Baker and Michael Fairman as Robert McNamara and Adlai Stevenson, respectively.