Incredibly accurate and objective historical drama.

Rating: 10/10 (13 January 2001)

I am currently working on a set of volumes about Jack and Bobby Kennedy, and have spent hundreds of hours researching everything about the Kennedy administration. As movies go, "Thirteen Days" has been the most historically accurate film I have ever seen. I cannot speak much for the suspense, because everything that happened, or was said, I already knew about. But, for anyone who is interested in knowing what really happened, "Thirteen Days" is as good as it gets. I am no die-hard Costner fan, but I must defend him here. I have read and heard a lot about how he lets his personal admiration of the Kennedy's show in his acting. THIS IS NOT TRUE. The character he plays, Kenny O'Donnell, first met JFK in the mid-1950's. At first, O'Donnell wasn't impressed. By the time JFK was elected, O'Donnell was closer than any non-family member could get to both JFK and RFK. He would have done anything for either one of them. His nickname was 'The Cobra', and everyone knew that to get to either brother, they'd first have to go through O'Donnell. He was also one of the 'Irish Mafia', so I don't think it's fair to knock Costner for letting his penchant for accents show. O'Donnell did have a strong New England/Irish accent, and often tried to hide it. The movie is also very objective. It does not take any dramatic license with any of the events or characters. The closest I could find to a serious omission is Bobby Kennedy wasn't shown to be as integral a player as he really was for JFK - yet it still does better than any previous work in establishing his importance. Any of the dialogue or actions shown in the movie actually did happen, and if anything the producers left out some factual things that could've made people skeptical. More than anything, I would like to emphasize that "Thirteen Days" tells the story as it really happened, and the all the various people as they really were.