The Kennedys are a mythologized family and political
dynasty. The brothers John F. and Robert, because of their tragic and untimely
deaths through assassination, are lionized more than almost any other political
figure of the last century. Because they also had distinctive accents, speech
patterns, and styles, it’s difficult to portray them on film without resorting
to some form of ghastly imitation. Roger Donaldson’s 2000 film Thirteen Days, about the 1962 Cuban
Missile Crisis, gets the casting so right for their roles that at times you
almost forget you’re watching icons. You’re really seeing these characters,
these men, trying to avert nuclear war and the destruction of life as we know
it.
As President Kennedy, Bruce Greenwood doesn’t bear any
great physical resemblance to the man, nor does he adopt a very thick accent,
and his voice is deeper than Kennedy’s, but he plays the physicality of the
part spot on. Kennedy suffered from chronic back troubles. You see this in
Greenwood’s performance as he leans on furniture while standing and
occasionally grimaces while shifting positions. Greenwood is now a recognizable
character actor, having appeared in prominent roles in last year’s Flight as well as the J.J. Abrams
rebooted Star Trek movies, but in
2000 he was virtually unknown and so was able to bring an Everyman quality to
JFK. Of course, Kennedy was anything but an Everyman. He came from a prominent
wealthy Massachusetts family and became the youngest elected U.S. President in
history. But for the purposes of the film Thirteen
Days, it is vitally important to the story to see him as a man rather than
the legend. Greenwood pulls it off beautifully.
Even better is Steven Culp as Bobby Kennedy, the
President’s younger brother, right hand man, Attorney General, and most trusted
political adviser and confidante. Culp has an incredibly strong physical
resemblance to Bobby in this film and adopts so many of his subtle mannerisms
that you might be forgiven for thinking at times you’re watching file footage.
Like Greenwood, Culp is also now a recognizable actor, primarily for his
“Desperate Housewives” role, but in 2000 had done some sporadic TV work and the
odd feature film.
Without these two great performances, Thirteen Days might have ended up more
as farce than taut political thriller. David Self’s screenplay is primarily
based on the book The Kennedy Tapes –
Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis by Ernest May and
Philip Zelikow. By most accounts, it holds fairly accurately to the facts as
reported at the time, as related in the book (which itself was partly based on
audio recordings made of the deliberations between Kennedy and his advisers),
and from documents newly declassified before the film was made. One area of
complaint about the film’s straying from truth is in the character of Kenny O’Donnell,
here played by Kevin Costner. He was a Harvard football college buddy of Bobby’s,
introduced to the Kennedy family and becoming part of that inner circle in the
1940s. He was John Kennedy’s chief political adviser and then White House Chief
of Staff. His role as trusted adviser taking an active role in negotiations is
apparently grossly exaggerated for the purpose of dramatic license.
O’Donnell’s role in the film’s story is to give the
general public entrance and audience with these mythical figures. In addition
to the Kennedys, there’s Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara (Dylan Baker), UN
Ambassador Adlai Stevenson (Michael Fairman), Generals Curtis LeMay and Maxwell
Taylor. These are political giants, men we know by name and action only. By
placing O’Donnell at the fore, and showing most everything through his eyes, he
functions almost as our guide. The film begins with him at breakfast with his
family – his wife and five children. They have normal family issues like anyone
else. We can see ourselves in him. He’s not a Kennedy in name, only in
invitation.
Donaldson makes Thirteen
Days one of those great historical films that ratchets up the tension
despite our knowledge that everyone turns out okay in the end. Like Ron Howard’s
Apollo 13, we know the outcome, but
that doesn’t mean you won’t find yourself gripping the arm of your chair as you
realize just how close to the brink we actually came to nuclear war in 1962. The
film reveals O’Donnell and the Kennedys as men who are trying to do right
morally, fighting to keep the world from entering nuclear war. Try as they
might, it continually looks like every course of action ends with missiles
being launched. The scenes involving all the military advisers are striking,
but when the three principles retreat to their private discussions, that’s when
we get to see how vulnerable they are. Then you consider how difficult it must
have been to stand up to military brass who fought the Japanese Empire and Nazi
Germany when they’re itching for a fight (not to mention they have the Bay of
Pigs catastrophe hanging over their heads).
The Kennedys were new to politics. Though JFK served in
WWII as did O’Donnell, they were not great military leaders like Eisenhower.
His respect from the military guys is not easily earned. The most sobering
thought I had watching the movie was that Bobby was only 36 when this happened.
Think about that a moment. That’s a year older than me and here he was making
big decisions on the biggest stage imaginable. I can’t fathom that
responsibility.
And then there’s Donaldson’s movie to bring it all home.
Most of the movie is a lot of talk behind closed doors, although he does open
it up a couple of times with some intense flying missions to take spy photos
over Cuba. These scenes serve to release us from the staidness of the
deliberations taking place in Washington. There are big lessons to be learned
from these events for any politicians working in national office. A man needs
to make a moral choice and stand behind it. Even if he’s wrong, at the end of
the day he can still feel good about his convictions. Donaldson and Self show
us that well.
No comments:
Post a Comment