This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

There's little debate that no post-WWII conflict came closer to a true nuclear engagement than the Cuban missile crisis - and rarely does a film work so hard and succeed so thoroughly in telling such an historical tale with substantial historical accuracy as "Thirteen Days."Starring Bruce Greenwood as a phenomenally on-point John Kennedy, "Days" tells a gripping chronological tale of both official and unofficial diplomacy that turned the crisis from one of war to unmistakable American success. Aside from a pointlessly overblown and annoying part for Kevin Costner as Kenny O'Donnel, "Days" is a wonderfully constructed piece that otherwise strives for historical accuracy from the American discovery of the Soviet-backed missiles in Cuba, to the masterful lecture by Adlai Stevenson in the UN, to the "unofficial" diplomatic offer to retire antiquated Jupiter missiles from Europe in concert with a pledge not to invade the island nation. "Days" wavers a bit with the needless interposition of nuclear test footage and the infamous "drop and cover" civil defense drills of the era, presumably as a way to punctuate a necessarily introspective and narrative view of the diplomatic back-channels and administration in- fighting undertaken to overcome the crisis. And the principals work too hard to master their New England accents, of which Costner's is easily the worst. From an historical perspective, those involved during the crisis insist O'Donnell's role is drastically overblown, and clearly Costner's participation seems contrived and self-important. Fortunately, the deft direction Roger Donaldson keeps the viewer engaged with the broader epic and the ultimate focus on Kennedy's wisdom and leadership in it's resolution, guided by the book of the same title written by Ernest May. "Days" isn't your typical action-adventure thriller, with heroic stars rolling down mountains and firing machine guns at virtual bad guys, but considering it's very real undertones and the reality it depicts, it surely merits the attention of anyone who lived through the crisis, or those now enjoying the fruits of its resolution.

Thirteen Days is a docudrama directed by Roger Donaldson about the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, seen from the perspective of the US political leadership. Kevin Costner stars, with Bruce Greenwood featured as John F. Kennedy.Donaldson teams up with Costner for another political thriller after both made No Way Out.After President John F. Kennedy is shown photographs from a spy plane detailing the presence of missiles in Cuba capable of obliterating massive areas of the U.S., he must immediately decide the most effective course of action for the country. With the aid of best friend and special assistant Kenny O'Donnell and brother Robert, the President must avoid a dire chain of events that could be dictated by General Curtis LeMay, who would rather take immediate action and invade Cuba. After initial reticence about leaking the information to the nation, President Kennedy eventually tells of the conflict, leading to widespread panic and a blockade of Cuba. With the aid of Robert McNamara and Adlai Stevenson, the leaders must find a way to alleviate the tension of the situation. The film is a good movie about a profound moment in world history.It provides more suspense than the car crashes and breathless chases of most action movies even though the outcome is known at the end.It has great performances from Costner and Greenwood,who was memorable as JFK.Also,it is easily the best film that Donaldson ever made.Overall,it was a highly competent and refreshing movie.

October 1962.The American Embassy,Grosvenor Square,London.Half a dozen Met cops,rushed for some unfathomable reason from their East London nick are drinking coffee in the underground car park which is rapidly filling with gun - toting U.S.Marines.Our sergeant.a grizzled vet who had seen service with the Welsh Guards in what he called "The Big One" suggested to a nervous - looking grunt that his President might be over - reacting to a typical piece of Kruschevian provocation. "What would Macmillan do if the reds put their missiles in Ireland?"was the response.Taff thought for a moment then said,"Try and set the buggers off,probably".The marine snorted."The Big Red Dog is digging in our backyard".He threw his coffee cup into a bin and went to join his mates who were getting in position to repel a couple of dozen "Hands off Cuba" demonstrators in case they were stupid enough to charge the Embassy. I was reminded of this brief encounter when I watched "13 Days" and the placement of Soviet Missiles in Cuba was referred to in the exact same terms in the film. Fortunately for all of us Mr Kruschev was exercising his penchant for brinksmanship and President Kennedy earned his respect by calling his bluff.There was a deal to be done and both men took advantage of the opportunity. In "13 Days" we see how Kennedy had the moral strength to beat down the military who were set on "First Strike" as the preferred option. In scenes thick with testosterone he defies this baying pack and listens to the voice of reason. Having lived through this event,the details are less of a revelation to me,but that does not detract from the efficacy of the film. The weak point is Mr K.Costner who not only has a very poor accent but also wears his underpants beneath his pyjamas. Just over a year later I was back at the Embassy in the turmoil caused by Kennedy's assassination and a few years further on fought the mob in Grosvenor Square during the "October Revolution".I got a nasty kick on the shin.A small price to pay for supporting our close friends and allies,in my book.

The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis seen through the eyes of President assistant Kenny O'Donnell (Kevin Costner who hands perfectly the role )as trusted confidante and with significance importance of Robert Kennedy ( Steven Culp who bears remarkable resemblance )and of course President John F . Kennedy ( a solid Bruce Greenwood ) . This interesting film widely develops the Cuban Missile Crisis that was a confrontation between the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War. The picture is packed with suspense , drama , historical deeds and is quite entertaining . It's correctly based on facts and the few sacrifices of accuracy are realized in the sense of of dramatic license . The motion picture is very well directed by Roger Donaldson who formerly worked with Costner in another suspenseful movie and also plenty of political intrigue titled ¨No way out (87) ¨ .Adding more details over the widely depicted on the movie the events happened of the following manner : In September 1962, the Cuban and Soviet governments began to surreptitiously build bases in Cuba for a number of medium- and intermediate-range ballistic nuclear missiles (MRBMs and IRBMs) with the ability to strike most of the continental United States. This action was subsequent to the 1958 deployment of Thor IRBMs in the UK and Jupiter IRBMs to Italy and Turkey in 1961; more than 100 U.S.-built missiles having the capability to strike Moscow with nuclear warheads. On October 14, 1962, a United States U-2 photo-reconnaissance plane captured photographic proof of Soviet missile bases under construction in Cuba.The ensuing crisis ranks with the Berlin Blockade as one of the major confrontations of the Cold War and is generally regarded as the moment in which the Cold War came closest to turning into a nuclear conflict .The US President ( Bruce Greenwood) , Attorney General Robert Kennedy (Steven Culp ),State Secretary Robert McNamara ( Dylan Baker ) and his military staff ( Bill Smitrovich , Ed Lauter , James Karen , Len Cariou) and general Curtis LeMay (Kevin Conway ) considered attacking Cuba via air and sea and settled on a "quarantine" of Cuba. The U.S. announced that it would not permit offensive weapons to be delivered to Cuba and demanded that the Soviets dismantle the missile bases already under construction or completed in Cuba and remove all offensive weapons. The Kennedy administration held a slim hope that the Kremlin would agree to their demands, and expected a military confrontation. On the Soviet end, Nikita Khrushchev wrote Kennedy that his quarantine of "navigation in international waters and air space to constitute an act of aggression propelling humankind into the abyss of a world nuclear-missile war." Fidel Castro encouraged Khrushchev to launch a preemptive first-strike nuclear attack on the U.S. The Soviets publicly balked at the U.S. demands, but in secret back-channel communications initiated a proposal to resolve the crisis. The confrontation ended on October 28, 1962 when President John F. Kennedy and United Nations Secretary-General U Thant reached an agreement with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to dismantle the offensive weapons and return them to the Soviet Union, subject to United Nations verification, in exchange for an agreement by the United States to never invade Cuba. The Soviets removed the missile systems and their support equipment, loading them onto eight Soviet ships from November 5–9. A month later, on December 5 and 6, the Soviet IL-28 bombers were loaded onto three Soviet ships and shipped back to Russia. The quarantine was formally ended previously on November 20, 1962. As a secret part of the agreement, all US-built Thor and Jupiter IRBMs deployed in Europe were deactivated by September 1963.The Cuban Missile Crisis spurred the creation of the Hotline Agreement and the Moscow-Washington hot line, a direct communications link between Moscow and Washington .