2000, 2 hrs 25 min., Rated PG-13 for brief strong language. Dir: Roger Donaldson. Cast: Kevin Costner (Kenny O'Donnell), Bruce Greenwood (John F. Kennedy), Steven Culp (Robert F. Kennedy), Dylan Baker (Robert McNamara), Henry Strozier (Dean Rusk), Frank Wood (McGeorge Bundy), Len Cariou (Dean Acheson).

I really, really hate to say this, but Thirteen Days felt more like 13 Hours, at least in length. I'm sorry, as a fan of history and historically based cinema, but after a while it seemed to drag.

I'm sure that for those 50 and over, having lived through the experience it will probably be much more gripping. In thirty years if a film is made regarding the events leading up to the Gulf War I'll be on the edge of my seat, saying, "Hey, I didn't know about that," involving behind-the-scenes actions of my heroes. But while the story had enough to tell, the emotional ups and downs of "it's over . . . no it's not" had me reeling, hoping for a resolution sooner than later.

From the beginning Thirteen Days seems to be trying very hard to drain emotion from the crowd, opening like the famous '64 Barry Goldwater atomic bomb ad. Atomic Bombs! They're big! They're fiery! Billions will die! Quick, hide under your desk, you'll be safe from the inferno! From then on, the movie had a big job to sell on the fact that the Cuban Missile Crisis was as close as we got to full-scale nuclear war with the Soviets during the Cold War. If you judge the movie on that duty, it worked. As for entertainment value, it did not. I prefer specials on the History Channel on the subject, which will be guaranteed to be correct on the facts without having to listen to Kevin Costner's Massachusetts accent.

I'll give Costner credit for one thing: not demanding to play President John F. Kennedy. Instead he accepted the role of Kenny O'Donnell, top aid to the president who seems to be more interested in money and working on the 1964 re-election campaign than anything else; perhaps a precursor to the 90s politics of Bill Clinton and campaign finance laws thrown out the window.

But I digress. Instead of Costner, Kennedy is portrayed brilliantly by Bruce Greenwood (Rules of Engagement, Double Jeopardy), and brother Bobby by Steven Culp (has only been in many small roles). Both are much better than Costner, and compared to the former's accent the brothers' sound like William F. Buckley!

Along with the atomic blasts peppered in the film for dramatic effect, director Roger Donaldson also feels the need to switch from color to black & white a few times. I suppose he's telling the audience: "Pay attention, this is an important and gut-wrenching event," but was more distracting than anything else. Not any more so, though, than the boom microphone that you can plainly see dip in the top of the screen during a scene in which the staff talks about a Soviet letter. I don't think I've ever seen something so obvious before in a finished print. If I have to proofread a column or review, then the director of a major film should be able to get rid of something like that.

The first hour-and-a-half was fairly gripping, covering the first week of the Crisis. Once the ships were turned back, though, the last hour seemed anti-climatic. There were plenty more events that took place, but that was as dramatic as they could get. Too bad the Crisis didn't end there, literally and for the film's sake.

Thirteen Days had many twists, turns, backchannel negotiations and underlying fact and fiction to reveal, but the History Channel has done it with more oomph, and I'm sure more accuracy. I also doubt that Costner's true-life assistant to Kennedy had that much to do as we're shown. He had some good lines, though, remarking that "I feel like we caught the Jap carrier steaming for Pearl Harbor," when they first see the nukes on Cuba, and realizing that nobody in D.C. is an expert on the Crisis: "There's no wise old man�sh*t, just us!"

There are a few other films I'd recommend first right now, but this is surely worth seeing for the historical basis alone. But, it may be worth a wait on rental. If you didn't pay attention for 40 years, you can wait six months.