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THIRTEEN DAYS
Starring Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood and Steven Culp
Directed by Roger Donaldson
Opens Friday, December 12
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As Thirteen Days opens, the Cold War is at its height. Spy planes have led U.S. army intelligence to believe that the Soviets are building missile bases in Cuba. This gives them the upper hand of nuclear first strike capability within firing range of Washington, D.C. As this information is disseminated, we are introduced to the key players: John F. Kennedy (Bruce Greenwood), Bobby Kennedy (Stephen Culp) and their longtime friend and political advisor (Kevin Costner). As promised by the title, the film chronicles the following 13 days that were the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The biggest hurdle this movie faces is maintaining any kind of suspense, considering that most viewers already know the outcome. Sadly, Thirteen Days is the Coles Notes, high school equivalency version of the Cuban Missile Crisis. There is no way you can cram all the political complexities of one of the most historically significant military actions of this era into a film, even if it is two-and-a-half hours long. As a result, Thirteen Days has the feeling of a TV mini-series that was cut down to feature length. Director Roger Donaldson tries to compensate for this by substituting flashy filmmaking for content and inappropriately mixing a variety of film stocks and colours. This is reminiscent of Oliver Stone’s JFK, but in Thirteen Days the convention is not used enough to make it look like anything more than a mistake.
The film is at an immediate disadvantage because of all the baggage it brings with it. Whether it is Costner, Kennedy or the crisis itself, these elements bring with them some kind of controversy and these preconceived notions work against the film. Thirteen Days is comprised mainly of dialogue scenes from behind closed doors, so the film has a speculative air about it. This wouldn’t be a problem except that the film makes itself out to be a hard-edged fact-driven drama. This misrepresentation causes Thirteen Days to run the risk of excluding its audience.
That said, the film is not completely without merit. Surprisingly, the acting is quite good. Costner trades in Jim Garrison’s New Orleans accent for a Boston drawl and is able to pull it off with some authenticity. Greenwood is always top-notch and does a commendable job of playing Kennedy as a multifaceted character, instead of a historical superhero, and even though Stephen Culp bears a striking physical resemblance to Bobby Kennedy, he does not rely on that to get him through the film.
With such a strong leading cast, it is unfortunate that the film has very little else of note. While the subject matter is interesting, the delivery is bland, leaving nothing more than a good premise which isn’t enough to sustain interest, especially if the audience has any basic knowledge of U.S. history. |
