It's Bay, for better and for worse

Rating: 7/10 (25 June 2019)

Michael Bay is the directing equivalent of a mobile, big-armed quarterback w/a gunslinger's mentality. He passes the eye test, and on any given play he can do things that dazzle the senses. But also on any given play he can do things that leave you scratching your head. And so it is W/13 Hours, a more serious subject than Bay normally tackles.
Based on a true story, Bay does an excellent job of dropping you into the harrowing ordeal w/the characters. At times you feel as if you're pinned down there w/them. But Bay can't overcome his bad habits and worst instincts.
For one, it's a tad bloated at nearly 2 1/2 hours. Bay, for all of his commercial, mainstream success, has always delivered films that are far longer than they need to be. Here the length can be forgiven a bit, as the subject warrants more depth than, say, transforming cars, but it would've benefitted from a little narrative tightening. The film also features Bay's penchant for broad, buddy cop-style humor. Soldiers certainly use humor as a coping mechanism in the heat of battle, but too often here the jokes and one-liners feel at odds w/the tone of the rest of the material.
I don't know what Bay's politics are, but he doesn't use this as a political vehicle as so many of his contemporaries do, to the detriment of their storytelling. Make no mistake, there is a story w/political implications to be told here, but not from the boots on the ground side of the story. This is the story of Brave men who stepped up and proved their mettle against incredible odds and that is wisely the focus of this good but never great movie.