Worth it just to remind us "how close we came"

Rating: 8/10 (30 March 2001)

OK, Kevin Costner's Boston accent is terrible (and keeps changing during the film) and it's too long and there was too much bashing of the military. But the script was fairly accurate history as far as Hollywood plots go, and it makes "Thirteen Days" a valuable film if only to remind us all, particularly the two generations that have grown up since 1962 (many of whom now think the Cold War was no big deal) how just the tiniest misstep could have sparked a general nuclear war. As I watched the movie, I couldn't help but speculate how more recent chief executives would have handled what JFK faced.
Also, from the perspective of seeing the film in Uruguay, a country where many are sympathetic to Castro, "Thirteen Days" may provide people here with a better understanding of why many Northamericans have negative feelings about the man. After all, he was apparently prepared to blow us all up.