Why you should see this film.

Rating: 8/10 (9 August 2001)

`Thirteen Days' is a fine film.
Whew! It's not often I can write that about a film starring Kevin Costner, especially the past several years. And that's because, despite his character's prominent movie role (larger than the historical facts dictate, but that's something that typically only bothers history buffs), his work is overshadowed by a group of actors who give absolutely wonderful performances.
Other reader comments dwell on the facts surrounding the crisis, so I won't go there. I'll simply highlight why you should see this movie.
First, the acting. Bruce Greenwood's JFK was just plain remarkable. His accent was perfect  natural, present, yet not distracting nor over-the-top (like Costner's). His mannerisms, expressions, and gestures truly captured the President's. In fact, the entire cabinet gave one of the best ensemble acting performances I've ever seen. Just splendid! Costner, while adequate, was completely overshadowed by his cast-mates. So don't go to see him - go to see everyone else.
Second, the story. This movie does a great job of showing just how intricate and complicated the situation was, and how frequently it changed. Each individual event that made up the missile crisis created new options, new scenarios, and new decisions for the President. The tension that results is wonderful. As opposed to so many films that require explosions, gunfire, car chases, and sex to create drama, this one uses true human drama  and does it quite well.
What about the film didn't I like? Well, Kenny O'Donnell's role in the crisis was certainly inflated, and he spoke to the Kennedys as if he was lecturing them instead of giving an opinion. While inflated roles aren't new to Hollywood depictions of historical events, it wasn't necessary in this film. I'm impressed that Costner took a back-seat role (vs. taking on JFK). It would have been even more impressive had his character been perhaps a bit less the `hero behind the scenes'. A tone-down job would have helped a great deal...though not a big deal considering the entire film's excellence. Also, the JFK role was written in a way that was a bit overly sympathetic, but that's also a relatively minor quabble.

Considering how often Hollywood incorporates formula into it's historical movies (such as the fictional love stories in `Titanic' and `Pearl Harbor'), it's refreshing to see a film like `Thirteen Days'. It's an excellent film overall, worth seeing just to witness the performances of ensemble. Just shows us that sometimes there's a big difference between `fine actor' and `movie star'.