Overall Rating
  Awesome: 41.86%
Worth A Look: 52.33%
Just Average: 4.65%
Pretty Crappy: 0%
Sucks: 1.16%
5 reviews, 56 user ratings
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| 13 Days |
by Nuwanda
"It keeps you on your toes..."
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It's not the 'feel good movie of the year'. More so, it's the 'thinkers' or 'historians' movie of the year. Assuming that you are both, or one of these, you will enjoy this flick. It's got an even, solid pace and it is jam packed with information to absorb. The performances are solid, to say the least, and the story is, however accurate it may or may not be, exciting and engaging.Right from the opening scenes, you have to be alert, pay attention and can't let your mind wander. At one point in the film, just when we were in the thick of the story I started thinking "Wow, Costner's not doing a half-bad job at the Boston accent". When I tuned back in to the dialoge on-screen, I was hooped. I was derailed, I couldn't figure out for the life of me what the hell was going on with the narrative.
I learned my lesson, and tried really hard to stay focused and to not get caught up in the more 'romantic' elements of the film. Normal things that I take mental notes of during movies had to take a back seat in my sub-conscious so that my focus was on the dialogue and the narrative only.
However, the strong features of the film etched themselves into my brain. For example Canadian (right on eh?) Bruce Greenwood's portrayal of John Kennedy is superb, nailing even the most subtle mannerisms of the former, dynamic president.
Kevin Costner's performance as "Special Advisor" Ken O'Donnell is noteworthy as well. Costner's reputation for having the acting depth of a piece of paper, and choosing 2-dimensional roles, is refuted here in this picture. He is not his normal, playful, cute, ball-playing self. He tackles the accent satisfactorily, not perfectly however, yet there were moments when I simply looked at him like he was Kenny, not goofy ol' Kevin.
I think that it's unavoidable that this film will be compared to Oliver Stone's "JFK". Both star Kevin Costner, and both deal with John Kennedy, and have a highly historical and complicated story line. The only weak comparison that I can come up with is that director Roger Donaldson tries to pull off a change from color to black and white film stock. This simply does not work. It's more intrusive than it is effective. There does not appear to be a consistent co-relation to the changes in color, so it appears to be a weak attempt at avant-guarde film making.
The film, which is largely devoid of any emotional elements (with the exception of fear), comes to a very poignant end with the reading of a plaque from Kennedy's desk. The enormity of the situation came to a head and I shed some tears, I'll admit it.Even though I knew how the story ended, I found myself feeling quite nervous and scared at moments. That's the talent of a good director. My recommendation would be to see it in the theatre, if you are apt to grasp political jargon and complicated dialogue easily. If not, if you are like me, then save it for video so that you have the opportunity to rewind and ask questions.
link directly to this review at https://www.hollywoodbitchslap.com/review.php?movie=4779&reviewer=116
originally posted: 01/22/01 19:35:27
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USA
12-Jan-2001 (PG-13)
UK
N/A
Australia
03-May-2001 (M)
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