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The Soviet Union, which used to be the big bad wolf of world
affairs, had plonked a few dozen nuclear missiles in Cuba
and by doing so had every major city in America, bar Seattle,
within range.
Even worse, for the Americans, there would only be a five-minute
warning time of a first-launch strike and that would mean
as soon as the US saw incoming missiles they would launch
every rocket they owned in retaliation.
Obviously, the situation was a tad worrying and became known
in history parlance as the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Thirteen Days plonks you right into the middle of
the drama with its three main characters being President John
F Kennedy (Bruce Greenwood), his brother Bobby (Steven Culp)
and Kenny O'Donnell (Kevin Costner).
This inside-the-Whitehouse view of how the drama unfolded,
how the military hawks wanted war and how narrowly it was
avoided is gripping stuff.
Costner is very good as O'Donnell, the close friend and presidential
advisor who helps guide the US through the tricky waters.
Initially his accent is hard to get the ears around to start,
but you do tune in.
Greenwood plays JFK in a nicely understated way and while
he doesn't try to put the former president's voice or accent
on, he somehow brings a life-like style to the role.
However, the actor who grabbed my attention in the movie
was Culp who is just sensational as Bobby Kennedy. Not only
does he sound like him, but he could be a clone. For mine,
he's the stand-out performer.
A lot of care has been taken with the transfer of Thirteen
Days and both the images and audio are first rate with
barely a noticeable quiver to the eye or ear. The sound is
particularly fine.
Thirteen Days is a movie that will grab you and take
you through a testing period of political life that we don't
really want to go through again.
Conclusion: Movie 85%, Extras 85%
Continued:
DVD details at a glance >
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