Worst film I've seen this year

Rating: 2/10 (12 December 2000)

Thirteen Days is a movie that milks the audiences' patriotism to garner box office receipts. Don't be fooled by the subject matter, this film takes a real life historical event and exploits the story in a poorly done script to make a little dough (see The Patriot).
I honestly don't know what the director was thinking. No, I really mean it...was he thinking Oliver Stone, or John Woo? Director Roger Donaldson borrows so much from cliched or trademark directing techniques that it's hard to derive his own style.
The musical score, which is constantly playing, doesn't leave any thinking up to the audience. If the scene is tense, the violins are right there to remind you. If the scene is happy, we're not permitted to figure it out for ourselves. All in all, I wonder if they even hired a composer or just dubbed over the soundtrack from late night crime dramas. Personally, I was insulted that I wasn't allowed to think for myself. But the rest of the audience didn't seem to mind. If you're with me then this movie isn't one for you.
Some other complaints: Why the black and white scenes? This was a question I was pondering during and after the film. There is no obvious conclusion for why Donaldson included the occasional B&W shots except that he was trying to be like Oliver Stone. Sorry Donnyboy, but it'll take more than Kevin Costner and B&W photography to make you feel like the master.
The characters are trading lines so much that it hurts. And their New Englander accents would make The Simpson's Mayor Quimby jealous. Also, there are so many characters that a caption always has to appear after a character delivers his first line to tell us who he is (as if it matters...we soon forget about him and the other 100 government officials who are introduced through this mess). Luckily for the presumed unintelligent viewer, the story line reduces it's characters down to 4 people: JFK, RFK, Coster, and the other guys. The first three exist to do everything that'll make them look good for the audience, and the other guys exist to undermine peace and tranquility and act as cheerleaders for WWIII.
I wasn't around for the Cuban Missle Crisis, though I've heard the situation in the White House was similar to what I just described...but please don't tell me it was as simple as that-- that our democracy elects either a villain or do-gooder. If this movie is right, then give me Cuba any day.
People were cheering at the end of this movie. Why? Because it was patriotic I guess. But it's patriotic in the same way that Independence Day was. Just because it's America rising up to the challenge doesn't mean it's a good movie. And just because it is telling a patriotic historical event doesn't mean we should nominate it for an Oscar (which I'm betting will happen). I wasn't cheering by the end of this film. I would have liked to see a good movie about the Cuban Missle Crisis. Is that asking too much?