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Thirteen Days
This fast moving thriller reveals how incredibly close we all came to World War III back in October 1962 after President John F. Kennedy discovered the Soviet Union had installednuclear missiles inside Cuba.
Thirteen Days, directed by Roger Donaldson, is told from the point of view of presidential aide Kenny O'Donnell, who is well played by Kevin Costner. Through his eyes wegain access to President Kennedy's inner-most circle during the whole crisis.
At first glance, the fake Bawsten (Boston) accents were a bit distracting, as they are in any Kennedy flick. People inHollywood don't seem to realize that the Kennedys don't have a real Boston accent. They invented their own.
Anyway, JFK is probably one of the more difficult historical characters to portray, given thelingering impact of old film and TV clips ("Ask not what your country can do for you," etc.). Bruce Greenwood as President Kennedy is quite outstanding, wisely choosing to understate his Kennedynesswhile nicely showing us how cautious and reflective the President actually was throughout the crisis. Steven Culp as his younger brother Bobby is also fine.
The film pretty much follows thehistorical timeline of events, beginning with a high flying U-2 spy jet taking photos over Cuba uncovering missile bases under construction. The President must then decide how to respond to this majorincursion by the Soviets in the Western Hemisphere, so near to the U.S.
The film's strongest point is that it clearly shows how even the slightest misjudgment by the U.S. or the Soviets during the crisismight have caused events to spiral out of control so that no one could prevent a nuclear holocaust. Amid the overwhelming stress and fatigue, President Kennedy must struggle to avoid making that onemistake which might be seen as an outright act of war by the Soviets.
Meanwhile, the President is under heavy pressure from his gung-ho military chiefs who want to shoot first and deal with the...