"THIRTEEN DAYS" (2000) Review

"THIRTEEN DAYS" (2000) Review

In 1991, Kevin Costner starred in "J.F.K.", Oliver Stone's Oscar nominated film that explored the death of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. Nine years later, Kevin Costner returned to the land of this country's own "Camelot", in this docudrama about the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 from the viewpoint of President Kennedy and the men who served his Administration. 

"THIRTEEN DAYS" got its title from Robert F. Kennedy's 1969 posthumous memoirs about the incident. Yet, David Self's screenplay is actually based upon Philip D. Zelikow's 1997 book, "The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis". "THIRTEEN DAYS" began in early October 1962, when the Kennedy Administration receive U-2 surveillance photos revealing nuclear missiles in Cuba that were placed by the Soviet Union. Because these missiles have the capability to wipe out most of the Eastern and Southern United States if operational, President John F. Kennedy and his advisers are forced to find a way to prevent their operational status. Also, Kennedy's authority is challenged by top civilian and military advisers like Chief of Staff U.S. Air Force General Curtis LeMay and former Secretary of State Dean Acheson, who wanted the President to display more obvious signs of military strength in order to scare the Soviets in to removing the missiles. Most of the interactions between Kennedy and his men are witnessed by Kenneth O'Donnell, a presidential adviser and close school friend of Attorney General Robert Kennedy.

There have been complaints that "THIRTEEN DAYS" is not a completely accurate portrayal of the Cuban Missile Crisis. And that the Kenny O"Donnell character, portrayed by star Kevin Costner, was unnecessarily prominent in this film. I do not know if the last complaint is relevant. After all, O'Donnell was one of Kennedy's advisers during the crisis. But since Costner was the star of the movie and one of the producers, perhaps there is some minor cause for complaint. As for any historical inaccuracy . . . this is a movie adaptation of history. People should realize that complete historical accuracy is extremely rare in fictional adaptations - not only in Hollywood movies and television, but also in productions outside of the country, novels, plays and even paintings.

Were there any aspects of "THIRTEEN DAYS" that I found . . . uh, annoying or off putting? Well, Kevin Costner's attempt at a Boston accent was pretty terrible. And if I must be frank, there was nothing exceptional about Roger Donaldson's direction. I am not stating that he did a poor job directing the film. On the contrary, he did a solid job. But there were moments when I felt I was watching a TV movie-of-the-week, instead of a major motion picture - especially in one of the final shots that revealed the President's advisers discussing policy in Vietnam, while Kennedy prepared to compose a letter to the relatives of a downed U-2 pilot.

Other than Costner's Boston accent and Donaldson's less than spectacular direction, I have no real complaints about the movie. In fact, I enjoyed it very much when I first saw it, twelve years ago. And I still enjoyed it very much when I recently viewed my DVD copy of it. "THIRTEEN DAYS" is a solid, yet tense and fascinating look into the Missile Crisis from the viewpoints of President Kennedy and his advisers. Before I first saw this film, I had no idea that Kennedy faced so much trouble from the military elite and the more conservative advisers of his administration. I was especially surprised by the latter, considering that the President himself was not only a borderline conservative, but also harbored hawkish views against Communism.

Although I would never view Donaldson as one of the finest directors around, I must admit that I was more than impressed by his ability to energized a story that could have easily been bogged down by a series of scenes featuring nothing but discussions and meetings. Instead, both Donaldson and Self energized "THIRTEEN DAYS" with a good number of scenes that featured tension between characters, emotional confrontations and two action sequences that featured military flights over Cuba. Among my favorite scenes are Kennedy's confrontation with Curtis Le May, his angry outburst over Le May's decision to engage in nuclear testing as a scare tactic against the Soviets; the flight of two U.S. Navy pilots over Cuban airspace; Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's confrontation with U.S. Navy Admiral George Anderson; and especially U.N. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson's confrontation with the Soviet U.N. Ambassador Valerian Zorin.

However, Donaldson's direction and Self's script were not the only aspects of "THIRTEEN DAYS" that prevented the movie from becoming a dull history lesson. The cast, led by Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood and Steven Culp, provided some superb performances that helped keep the story alive. I am not going to deny that I found Costner's Boston accent cringe worthy. One would have to be deaf not to notice. But a bad accent does not mean a bad performance. And Costner proved to be a very lively and intense Kenny O'Donnell, whose close relationship and loyalty to the Kennedys allowed him to be brutally frank to them, when others could not get away with such frankness. Steven Culp was equally intense as Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who seemed to inject energy into every scene in which he appeared. But the one performance that really impressed me came from Bruce Greenwood's portrayal of the 35th President of the United States. Instead of portraying Kennedy as some one-note political icon or womanizing bad boy, Greenwood portrayed Kennedy as a intelligent, multi-faceted politician struggling to prevent the outbreak of a third world war, while keeping his high-ranking military officers in check. Personally, I feel that Greenwood may have given the best portrayal of Kennedy I have yet to see on either the movie or television screen. The movie also featured some first-rate and memorable supporting performances from the likes of Dylan Baker (as Robert McNamara), Michael Fairman (as Adlai Stevenson), Lucinda Jenney (as Helen O'Donnell), Kevin Conway (as Curtis LeMay), Madison Mason (as Admiral Anderson), Len Cariou (as Dean Acheson), Bill Smitrovich (as General Maxwell Taylor), and especially Karen Ludwig and Christopher Lawson as the sharp-tongued White House operator Margaret and the sardonic U.S. Navy pilot Commander William Ecker.

I want to say something about the film's production designs and setting. If there is one aspect of "THIRTEEN DAYS" that I truly appreciated how J. Dennis Washington's production designs re-created the year 1962. And he did so without any over-the-top attempt at early 1960s style. Unlike some productions set during this period, "THIRTEEN DAYS" did not scream "THIS IS THE SIXTIES!". Washington's production designs, along with Denise Pizzini's set decorations and Isis Mussenden's costume designs presented the early 1960s with an elegance and accuracy I found very satisfying. Their work was ably assisted by Andrzej Bartkowiak's photography. Bartkowiak's work also supported Conrad Buff IV's excellent editing, which prevented the film from becoming a dull period piece.

I do not know what else I could say about "THIRTEEN DAYS". I do not claim that it is a perfect film. I found Roger Donaldson's direction excellent, but not particularly dazzling or outstanding. And yes, Kevin Costner's otherwise first-rate performance was marred by a bad Boston accent. But he, along with an excellent Steven Culp, a superb Bruce Greenwood, a solid cast and a satisfying script by David Self made "THIRTEEN DAYS" an interesting and well made account of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.