THIRTEEN DAYS
Released: January 12, 2001
Set in 1962, this is the true story of the two-week long Cuban missile crisis that put the world virtually on the brink of WW3. Since we all know that war did not break out during this tense period in history, we are now given a look back at the era in this war movie without any huge gunfights or explosions. What "Thirteen Days" manages to do is show just how close we came to worldwide nuclear war. The acting is great. Kevin Costner stars as President John F. Kennedy's advisor and much of the story is seen from his perspective, a sort of fly on the wall in the White House. Kennedy is played well by Canadian Bruce Greenwood, who previously had played Ashley Judd's evil husband in "Double Jeopardy" in 1999. Like "Apollo 13" and "Titanic" before it, you may know how "Thirteen Days" ends but it is electrifying to watch these real events play out on the Hollywood canvas. It also serves as a nice refresher course or history lesson depending if you are old enough to recall this historic event or if you are a young punk ass who never knew it occured in the first place. Directed by Roger Donaldson (who directed Kevin Costner's 1987 breakout role in "No Way Out") and redeems himself after the lousy volcano movie he slapped together called "Dante's Peak" from 1997.
145 Minutes
New Line/Warner Bros.