X
- 2000
- PG-13
- New Line Cinema
- 2 h 25 m
- 2000
- PG-13
- New Line Cinema
- 2 h 25 m
Summary A dramatization of what took place in the White House as John F. Kennedy (Greenwood) learns the news that Cuba has missiles. The film is seen through the eyes of the Chief of Staff (Costner).
Directed By: Roger Donaldson
Written By: David Self, Ernest R. May, Philip D. Zelikow
- 2000
- PG-13
- New Line Cinema
- 2 h 25 m
- 2000
- PG-13
- New Line Cinema
- 2 h 25 m
Thirteen Days
67
7.3
Where to Watch
Summary A dramatization of what took place in the White House as John F. Kennedy (Greenwood) learns the news that Cuba has missiles. The film is seen through the eyes of the Chief of Staff (Costner).
Directed By: Roger Donaldson
Written By: David Self, Ernest R. May, Philip D. Zelikow
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 31 Critic Reviews
67
74% Positive
23 Reviews
23 Reviews
19% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
6% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 31 Critic Reviews
67
74% Positive
23 Reviews
23 Reviews
19% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
6% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
A terrifically engrossing war film in which not a single shot is fired, a movie about shaping events rather than being shaped by them.
One of the most exciting American movies about recent political history since, ironically, Oliver Stone's "JFK."
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 30 User Ratings
7.3
73% Positive
22 Ratings
22 Ratings
27% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 30 User Ratings
7.3
73% Positive
22 Ratings
22 Ratings
27% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
The biggest draw? It is how he spreads the tension that was experienced in those 13 days of yore, in which the threat of a nuclear war became palpable. One of Kevin Costner's most memorable roles.
Report
Plays like a very good TV movie. Short on visual flair and starpower, Thirteen Days is not the definitive story of the Cuban missile crisis, but it's an engrossing historical lesson nonetheless.
Thoroughly gripping.
The players don't particularly look like their historical models, but they make us feel their life-threatening pain and puzzlement.
Like President Kennedy, director Donaldson (who made "No Way Out," another pretty good Washington-seat-of-power thriller) has found a perfect balance of often-opposing forces: between recorded history and the demands of plain old entertainment.
This overdone project dissipates its energy in strange ways (sudden shifts to black-and-white, as though hailing the spirit of Oliver Stone and that other Costner JFK movie), and makes you wish its makers had shown the same restraint the government did during the crisis.
Led by strong performances by Greenwood and Culp, Thirteen Days is an interesting and taught political drama, even if the final outcome is known to all (hint we weren't all incinerated by mutual nuclear destruction). In addition to the Kennedy administration, the narrative covers the roles of both the military and US UN representatives in the crisis. I've always thought that the roles of military personnel in movies is clichéd in the manner they always push for war, but seeing as this film depicts actual events (according to the source book) it turns out that that is actually the case. In fact, in this case the military chiefs repeatedly undermine JFK's restrained by not cancelling a planned atom bomb test or spy flights close to the Soviet Union.
The script faithfully recreates actual speeches given by JFK during the crisis, 'not merely peace in our time but peace for all time' and both Greenwood and Culp accurately nail the Boston Irish accent of the Kennedy family. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the film's lead and producer, Kevin Costner. His accent veers from credible to laughable to non-existent during the film and his failings are only highlighted by his co-stars' performances.
Report
Production Company
New Line Cinema,
Beacon Communications,
Beacon Pictures,
Tig Productions
Release Date Dec 25, 2000
Duration 2 h 25 m
Rating PG-13
Tagline You'll Never Believe How Close We Came
Awards
Satellite Awards
• 2 Wins & 3 Nominations
Political Film Society, USA
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards
• 1 Nomination
