I was a 12-year-old sixth grader living in rural Indiana when the events chronicled in Thirteen Days occurred. But like most of the "duck- and-cover" kids who lived with the threat of nuclear incineration hanging over our heads in the early 60s, I still have vivid memories of a time when our world came perilously close to self-destruction.
Yeah, I know, this is beginning to sound like some geezer talking about how awful it was to be a kid when the Commies were the great evil on the planet. I'll try not to go too far down that road. But I do feel it's important to give you some first-person context if I'm going to convince you this is a movie worth shelling out your six or seven bucks to see.
What do I remember about those two weeks in October 1962? I clearly recall President Kennedy's image on the black and white console TV that occupied a whole corner of my family's living room. I remember how he told us that our nation was facing great threat from nuclear-tipped missiles the Soviets had placed in Cuba. And I remember him telling us that he would do whatever was necessary to make the Soviets pull those missiles out.
Although I'm not sure Kennedy said it in so many words, we all knew that "whatever" could include going to war with Cuba and subsequently the Soviet Union. Finally, I remember asking my parents what it all meant, and the way they really couldn't give me an answer. I don't think anyone knew.
Yet in spite of these vivid memories, until I saw Thirteen Days, my knowledge of what really happened was incomplete -- largely limited to what President Kennedy shared with us and to what we were told through the press. This movie shows much of what went on inside the Oval Office and within the inner circle of the Kennedy White House.
Filmmakers tell the story through the eyes of Kenneth P. O'Donnell (Kevin Costner), who served as special assistant to President Kennedy. His office was next door to the Oval Office, and he --along with the president's brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy -- were the key players in this real-life drama.
Producer Armyan Bernstein said in the press kit he chose this approach since he wanted to tell the story, "... through the heart and soul of an Everyman." I suppose if you consider a guy who was Bobby Kennedy's classmate and football teammate at Harvard, who worked on John F. Kennedy's Senate and presidential campaigns, and who took his orders directly from the president, the "everyman" moniker works.
Although the idea of Kenny O'Donnell as an everyman didn't work for me, his character did. And besides, I think I'd rather see the drama through the eyes of an informed insider than, say, a White House butler.
One aspect of the movie I really enjoyed was the producers' knack for casting actors that closely resembled the actual political figures of the time. Anyone who has ever seen photos or footage of Robert McNamara, Dean Rusk or Lyndon Johnson would have no problem picking them out in this picture. Likewise, Bruce Greenwood and Steven Culp, who play John and Bobby Kennedy respectively, do a remarkable job of capturing the looks and personalities of these men of mythic stature.
Likewise, the manner in which actor Walter Adrian portrayed Vice President Lyndon Johnson was right on the money. At cabinet meetings, he sat with what I can only describe as a completely lost look on his face. The single time he speaks in the movie occurs when he voices the opinion that by successfully meeting the crisis, the administration has scored a great political victory that will serve them well in the next election. It sounded so much like the LBJ I remember as a teenager.
I was a little disappointed when, three or four times, we sat through footage of tremendous nuclear explosions. I think one detonation -- the test at Johnston Island in the Pacific that really did take place during those "thirteen days" in October 1962 -- would have made their point. Instead, we saw gratuitous mushroom cloud after mushroom cloud, apparently designed just to make sure we understood how bad things could have gotten. We got it the first time.
I think many Americans -- of my generation and those that have followed -- have the idea that the Cuban Missile Crisis was resolved through the inspired leadership, courage and tenacity of a single man-President John F. Kennedy. This movie tells a much different story. We learn that Kennedy had grave doubts about what course of action to pursue. And although no one can deny Kennedy's great courage, he resolved the crisis with much advice and help from his circle of advisers. And that resolution ultimately proved to be one more of compromise than of courage.
Thirteen Days is a first-rate movie about a remarkable time in our history. If Kennedy and his advisers had not defused the incredibly tense situation, countless numbers of Americans and Russians could have been incinerated or died an agonizing death from radiation sickness. Instead, the children of the '60s, the '70s, the '80s and beyond live in a much safer world. I think this makes Thirteen Days worth seeing.
Grade: B
(PG-13, 146 minutes)
