'Thirteen Days' movie review

(C) 2000 New Line Cinema

On Christmas Day 2000, New Line Cinema released “Thirteen Days,” a taut and thought-provoking docudrama about the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis as told from the Kennedy Administration’s point of view. Starring Kevin Costner (who also serves as co-producer) as Kenneth P. O’Donnell, Bruce Greenwood (“Star Trek Into Darkness”) as President John F. Kennedy, and Steven Culp as Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, the movie focuses on a Cold War crisis that could have escalated into World War III. It’s also a fascinating look at how people under extreme stress can overcome anxiety and fear to solve the thorniest problems – in this case, the threat of nuclear annihilation.

Directed by Roger Donaldson (“Smash Palace,” “No Way Out”) from a screenplay by David Self (“Road to Perdition”), “Thirteen Days” begins on a suspenseful note as a U.S. U-2 spy plane flies over Communist-ruled Cuba in October of 1962. Photos taken during this overflight reveal to American intelligence analysts that the Soviet Union is placing medium-range ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads on the island, which is located just 90 miles away from U.S. shores.

Although the U.S. and its NATO allies have placed similar nuclear missiles in Turkey, a country which bordered the now-vanished Soviet Union, President Kennedy and his top aides believe that the American people will see the Russian move as a threat to America’s national security. Until now, they muse, Soviet Premier Nikita S. Khruschev has limited Soviet action to Eastern Europe and other areas near his country’s borders. But now, with tensions high over Berlin and the April 1961 Bay of Pigs fiasco, Moscow seems to be raising the ante.

President Kennedy: [addressing the NPIC photograph analyst] Okay - let's have it.

NPIC Photo Interpreter: Gentlemen, as most of you now know, a U-2 over Cuba Sunday morning took a series of disturbing photographs. Our analysis at NPIC indicates that the Soviet Union has followed up its conventional weapons build-up in Cuba with the introduction of surface-to-surface, medium-range ballistic missiles, or MRBMs. Our official estimate at this time is that the missile system is the SS-4 'Sandal'. We do not believe that the missiles are as yet operational. Iron Bark reports that the SS-4 can deliver a 3-megaton nuclear weapon 1,000 miles. So far we've identified 32 missiles serviced by about 3400 men, undoubtedly all Soviet personnel. Our cities and military installations in the southeast as far north as Washington, D.C., are in range of these weapons, and in the event of a launch would have only five minutes of warning.

General Marshall Carter: Five minutes, gentlemen.

Gen. Max Taylor: In those five minutes, they could kill 80 million Americans - and destroy a significant percentage of our bomber bases, degrading our retaliatory options. The Joint Chiefs' consensus, Mr. President, is that this signals a major doctrinal shift in Soviet thinking - to a first-strike policy. It is a massively destabilizing move.

Robert Kennedy: How long until they're operational?

NPIC Photo Interpreter: General Taylor can answer that question better than I can.

Gen. Max Taylor: GMAC - Guided Missiles Intelligence Committee - estimates 10-14 days. A crash program could limit that time. However, I must stress that there may be more missiles - that we don't know about. We need more U-2 coverage.

President Kennedy: Gentlemen, I want first reactions here. Assuming for the moment that Khruschev has not gone off the deep end - and intends to start World War III - what are we looking at?

Dean Rusk: Mr. President, I believe my team is in agreement. If we permit the introduction of nuclear missiles to a Soviet satellite nation in our hemisphere, the diplomatic consequences will be too terrible to contemplate. The Russians are trying to show the world they can do whatever they want, wherever they want, and we're powerless to stop them. If they succeed...

Robert Kennedy: It'll be Munich all over again.

At first, the Kennedy Administration’s only options seem to be limited to military action, including limited air strikes on the missile sites, expanded air strikes that include Soviet surface-to-air missile positions, and an all-out invasion of Cuba by the Marines and Army. But as everyone in President Kennedy’s national security team realizes, any of these options may be the spark that ignites a nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

Of course, after nearly two weeks of frantic brainstorming and intense arguments between those who advocated for military action and those who sought a negotiated solution, cooler heads prevailed and World War III was averted. Though Air Force Gen. Curtis LeMay (Kevin Conway) nearly upsets the President’s plans for a negotiated solution by raising the nation’s alert level to DEFCON 2 without JFK’s permission, both sides back away from the brink of nuclear war and find a creative solution to the problem of the missiles of October.

Though “Thirteen Days” shares its title with Robert F. Kennedy’s book about the Cuban Missile Crisis, David Self based his script on “The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis” by Ernest May and Philip Zelikow. Because this book was written in the 1990s and its authors had access to information that was declassified at the end of the Cold War, it is more accurate than the 1974 TV drama “The Missiles of October.”

Because it is a docudrama about diplomacy and not an action thriller like “The Hunt for Red October,” “Thirteen Days” flopped at the box office. Nevertheless, it is excellently written and has good production values that deserve more kudos than they received from moviegoers and the Hollywood community.

And even though the film’s depiction of Kenny O’Donnell (Kevin Costner) as a central figure in the Cuban Missile Crisis was panned by former Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara (portrayed in the movie by Dylan Baker). “Thirteen Days” features top-notch acting.  Casting director Dianne Crittenden chose a fine group of American and Russian-born actors to portray the key figures on both sides that helped defuse the Cold War’s “hottest” moment.

Of the three leads, Bruce Greenwood and Steven Culp turn in outstanding performances as JFK and his younger brother Bobby. Greenwood may not look exactly like President Kennedy, but he gets the nuances of the man so well that the audience feels as though the actor had channeled his spirit somehow. Culp also portrays Bobby Kennedy as an intense, intelligent, and politically astute advisor to his older brother.

Overall, “Thirteen Days” is one of those movies that truly deserves a larger audience than it received when it was released. As with most docudramas based on historical events, the viewer (hopefully) knows how things played out in 1962. Nevertheless, the main selling point of Donaldson’s movie is not its foregone conclusion, but in telling the story of how a small group of intelligent and decent persons under extreme duress were able to think outside the box and prevented a nuclear holocaust.

Blu-ray Special Features:

• Historical Figures Commentary drawn from archival audio tapes; the documentary “Roots of the Cuban Missile Crisis”; Historical Figures Biographical Gallery; deleted scenes; filmmaker audio commentary by Roger Donaldson; “Bringing History to the Silver Screen” documentary; Historical Information track; Visual effects scene deconstructions; theatrical trailer.

Blu-ray Specifications:

Video

• Codec: MPEG-4 AVC (25.96 Mbps)
• Resolution: 1080p
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Audio

• English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)

Subtitles

• English SDH, Spanish

Discs

• 50GB Blu-ray Disc
• Single disc (1 BD)

Playback

• Region free     

Miscellaneous 

• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: New Line Home Video
• DVD Release Date: November 12, 2013
• Run Time: 145 minutes