Jon Monsarrat review: great, safe for non-drama types

Rating: 9/10 (25 August 2002)

I'm an action movie guy, and while I have an appreciation for history, sort of, I'm hardly a drama fan. But Thirteen Days is quite accessible and not at all boring. In fact, I found it riveting and have seen it a couple of times since.
The film is the true life story of the Cuban missile crisis, which I always thought happened at the same time as the Bay of Pigs crisis, but I was wrong. The script writer takes special care in every single scene to (a) set up tension (b) explain what's going on and why that's important. So despite all the complexities, I never got lost.
Meanwhile, the story itself is fascinating, and the fact that it's true to life means that unlike most of the action flicks I see, it actually has some meaning. The only negative I can think of is those overdone Boston accents. Whaddya know, a Kevin Costner film I actually liked.
Who should see this:
-- everyone who has even the tiniest interest in spy thriller stuff
-- drama fans, you'll go for it too
-- action fans, definitely
I'll give Thirteen Days a 9 out of 10.