Anna Bowman is a senior English and telecommunications major and writes 'Film Annalysis' for the Daily News. Her views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper. Write to Anna at aabowman@bsu.edu.
 |
|---|
4/5 stars
There are fewer things hotter than Benghazi in September – what? Did you think I was going to say John Krasinski in “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi”? Either way, the heat and tension in this film is undeniable. For essentially being a big “bro” movie, it contains enough drama and emotional pull to engross even the most skeptical of viewers.
The plot is based on the controversy and tragedy surrounding the U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya. But instead of following the lives of the diplomat and CIA agents, it tracks the stories of six security operators hired to protect them. Seeing as the movie is directed by Michael Bay, this makes a lot more sense.
Consequently, the balance between action and plot development is pretty off-kilter. Even in the beginning, when the audience is supposed to be learning more about the characters, we are almost immediately bombarded with shots fired from every direction and high-speed car chases. That would have been fine if the movie found time later to explain the quirks and motives of the main characters, but it never really does. With the exception of a few snarky exchanges between them and some very short Skype conversations with their families, the audience is left with little insight into the men’s lives.
The only thing that really gave me respect for the storytelling in this film was a scene in which the wives of the enemy “tangoes” rush to the dead bodies of their loved ones after the fighting is over. The movie could have gone the entire time without showing the reactions of the other side and I still would have considered it a worthwhile experience. However, by displaying some humanity in the other side, it made the story much more tragic and real.
The power of the film definitely comes from the intense emotional distress felt near the end of the story. After 13 hours of incessant battle and mind games, the men begin to wear down and reveal some of the deepest grief I have ever seen on film. Though it is essentially just an action movie, credit should be given to all of the actors for their incredibly raw and moving performances.
Speaking of which, there is one actor who at first glance doesn’t quite fit into this war movie. For the first half, I wasn’t sure why they had cast John Krasinski for the part of security operator, Jack Silva. Why would they hire an actor who had to have spent all day, every day in the gym preparing for his role instead of someone who already fit the bill? Well, by the end, that was all made clear. Our “Jim” stole every scene with his witty charm and strong commitment to the story and all the emotions it entailed. Plus, it was nice (but perhaps a little awkward) to see the reunion of Jim and Roy from “The Office,” as David Denman played one of the security operators as well.
As far as the technical aspects go, I wasn’t very impressed. The camera style was erratic at best, and there could have been a lot more done with the score. The only scene that merits any sort of attention is a slow-motion shot of a fired missile during one of the many intense battle scenes. In it, the camera follows the flight of the missile as it’s fired by the tangoes. As it tracks the missile, the audio is toned down and the audience is left in powerful suspense.
Other than that, I mostly have complaints. There were many weirdly out-of-focus shots throughout the film that I guess could have been intentional, but were nonetheless frustrating to me as an audience member trying to make sense of what was going on. Plus, the fast-paced editing style gave my eyes little time to acclimate to each shot, most of which were uninventive and generic.
Although I don’t think it will be taking home any awards this season, “13 Hours” is a thoroughly enthralling film that will take you a while to come down from.
