13 Days

            Personally, I liked watching this movie. It gave me an inside look at what went on during those stressful and intense 13 days, it also showed just how close we really were to war with the Soviets. More than anything, this movie taught me that being the President of the United States would be so much more stressful than I had ever imagined.

            The movie 13 Days was about what went on during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, and how the president and others in the White House went about handling the situation.

            The film started with the discovery of the missiles in Cuba by American spy planes with cameras on them. People were frantic, and they weren’t sure how to approach the situation at all. President Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy, and Kenny O’Donnell are working non-stop, around the clock to try and figure out what approach they should take, and when they should carry out this approach. There was discussion of invasion, of airstrike, and of a blockade of Cuba. Officials had meetings discussing it, and they had debates arguing about it. They spent a lot of time trying to all come to an agreement on the matter. However, after a lot of time discussing, and thinking, President Kennedy finally came to the decision to carry out a blockade of Cuba.

            The blockade was then set and no ships carrying any sorts of offensive missiles were able to enter the country. The American ships would inspect the Russian ships, and if there were missiles found, they were sent back. There were a couple of close calls, in that miscommunication almost forced troops to fire weapons. Luckily, all of these confrontations were avoided in the end, and so was an all-out war with Russia.

            There are many conflicts stirring in this story, with the obvious, biggest conflict being between the two countries on the verge of going to war. Others include the conflicts in the White House. Do we invade? Do we declare war? Do we carry out an airstrike? Should we blockade? The list just goes on and on. Yet amongst all these, probably some of the biggest conflicts were internal. For instance, President Kennedy had so much going through his mind. He must have been torn apart by all of the tough decisions he had to make in such a short amount of time. But he remained calm, and didn’t show the people of America any sort of fear, or anger, or frustration. That, in my opinion, is very impressive.

            In my opinion, the movie 13 Days is a great film. It is very educational, and it taught me all about the history of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and how it was handled. I honestly never would have guessed we were just that close to a World War III starting, but this movie proved me otherwise. And in my mind, that is what made it so good. It was entertaining, and it kept the viewers on the edge of their seats. I also thought the actors did a great job of portraying their characters. I really liked the fact that I got to see every single step of what was happening behind the scenes, and it gave me a close-up view of what went on.