"3 DAYS TO KILL" (2014) ReviewAlthough I have seen Kevin Costner appear in movies recently, they have mainly been in supporting roles. So image my surprise when I discovered that he had a leading role in a film that recently hit the movie theaters. I heard a good deal of negative press about it, but due to sheer boredom, I decided to go see it, anyway. Written by Adi Hasak and Luc Besson, and directed by McG; "3 DAYS TO KILL" is about veteran C.I.A. agent Ethan Renner, who is manipulated into carrying out one last mission for the agency, in exchange for an experimental drug that might cure his cancer. The story begins in Berlin where Ethan and a team of fellow agents converge upon a hotel to find and capture "The Albino", lieutenant to an arms trafficker called "The Wolf". The operation's leader, assassin Vivi Delay, has been informed that "The Wolf" is selling a dirty bomb to some terrorists. "The Albino" becomes aware of the trap when he recognizes one of the C.I.A. agents. Renner manages to shoot "The Albino" in the leg, but not capture him. And the veteran agent passes out.When Renner regains consciousness inside a hospital, his doctor informs him that he is dying of brain cancer and that the disease has spread to his lungs. Renner realizes that he had spent most of his career keeping it a secret from his estranged wife Christine and daughter Zoey and damaging his relationship with them. He becomes determined to fix his relationship with his family upon his return to Paris. However, his efforts are threatened when Vivi Delay approaches him with a deal - to find and kill "The Wolf", in exchange for an experimental drug that could extend his life significantly. He reluctantly accepts in order to get more time with his family. I could say that "3 DAYS TO KILL" failed spectacularly at the box office. But since it ended up making a profit of seven million dollars, perhaps I will limit my observation to a failure to become a bit hit. The critics really raked this film over the coals. The only positive comments I have heard about this film came from my boss, who thought it was pretty good. One could say . . . what does he know? Well, I saw the movie, because I could not find anything else to do. And honestly? I rather liked it. In fact, I liked it a bit more than Kevin Costner's other Winter 2014 film, namely "JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT". Why? I thought "3 DAYS TO KILL" was a more original film. Renner's mission to hunt down and kill a notorious arms dealer did not strike me as particularly original. But when Besson and Hasak added the element of a doomed agent dying of cancer, an experimental drug and family problems . . . well, I found myself spellbound by the story. Perhaps other moviegoers and critics would have preferred a more unoriginal tale. I certainly would not have appreciated it. All I can do is sigh with relief that "3 DAYS TO KILL" proved to be such an odd and if I may say so, entertaining film.The movie also featured some top-notch action sequences, deftly shot by McG and cinematographer Thierry Arbogast; and skillfully edited by Audrey Simonaud. The scenes that especially come to mind are the original attempt to snatch "The Albino" in Berlin, Renner's kidnapping of Mitat Yilmaz, limousine driver for "The Wolf", an attempt on Renner's life at a local grocery store, Renner's killing of "The Albino" at a subway and the final action sequence in which Renner goes after "The Wolf" at a party held by the parents of Zoey's boyfriend. I also enjoyed Arogast's photography of Berlin and especially Paris, considering that the story is set in the late fall. The costumes designed by Olivier Bériot and Roemehl Hawkins not only struck me as very chic, but perfect for a clothing boutique.As much as I liked "3 DAYS TO KILL", it had its problems. I must admit that the idea of an experimental drug that can cure cancer seemed to be stretching it a bit, despite its originality. I really hate to say this, but I found Amber Heard's character, Vivi Delay, rather hard to swallow. Actually, I rather disliked the character. She seemed rather over-the-top to me, reminding me of some over-the-top Bond villain or villainess - despite the fact that she was a protagonist. And honestly? Amber Heard is not John Travolta or Al Pacino, who can be hammy with style. My last problem with "3 DAYS TO KILL" has to do with the last action sequence. As much as I liked it, I found it rather flawed. The biggest mistake that Besson, Hasak and McG did was inter-cut Renner's last attempt to kill "The Wolf" with scenes of his daughter Zoey and her boyfriend Hugh, cuddling and who knows what else, in a private room of the club. It just did not work. Especially since the moments with Zoey and Hugh did not really add to the action sequence.Although I was not impressed with Amber Heard's hammy performance, at least I was impressed by Kevin Costner and other members of the cast. What can I say about Costner? Well . . . he gave a performance that reminded me why I became a big fan of his so many years ago. I was especially impressed by how he balanced the professional and private lives of his character, Ethan Renner. Hailee Steinfeld, who had made such an impression in her Oscar-nominated performance in 2010's "TRUE GRIT", proved to be equally impressive as Renner's strong-willed and slightly eccentric daughter, Zoey. Connie Nielsen made a nice impression as Renner's ex-wife. Unfortunately, I wish she could have been in the film a little longer. Both Richard Sammuel ("INGLORIOUS BASTERDS") and Tómas Lemarquis gave impressive performances as the arms dealer "The Wolf" and his lieutenant "The Albino". Eriq Ebouaney gave a charming performance as the West African who squats in Ethan's Paris apartment, along with his family. But the performance that I found really entertaining was Marc Andréoni's portrayal of Mitat Yilmaz, limousine driver of "The Wolf". Like Costner, he did a first-rate job of balancing his character's dangerous profession and his private life as a family man with a great deal of sharp humor.What else can I say about "3 DAYS TO KILL"? I would never regard it as one of the best action movies I have seen. And it certainly had its flaws. But I did end up enjoying it, much to my surprise, especially since I found the screenplay written by Luc Besson and Adi Hasak rather original. More importantly, I thought the screenplay was well served by energetic direction from McG and first-rate performances (well, most of them) from a cast led by Kevin Costner.
"THIRTEEN DAYS" (2000) ReviewIn 1991, Kevin Costner starred in "J.F.K.", Oliver Stone's Oscar nominated film that explored the death of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. Nine years later, Kevin Costner returned to the land of this country's own "Camelot", in this docudrama about the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 from the viewpoint of President Kennedy and the men who served his Administration. "THIRTEEN DAYS" got its title from Robert F. Kennedy's 1969 posthumous memoirs about the incident. Yet, David Self's screenplay is actually based upon Philip D. Zelikow's 1997 book, "The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis". "THIRTEEN DAYS" began in early October 1962, when the Kennedy Administration receive U-2 surveillance photos revealing nuclear missiles in Cuba that were placed by the Soviet Union. Because these missiles have the capability to wipe out most of the Eastern and Southern United States if operational, President John F. Kennedy and his advisers are forced to find a way to prevent their operational status. Also, Kennedy's authority is challenged by top civilian and military advisers like Chief of Staff U.S. Air Force General Curtis LeMay and former Secretary of State Dean Acheson, who wanted the President to display more obvious signs of military strength in order to scare the Soviets in to removing the missiles. Most of the interactions between Kennedy and his men are witnessed by Kenneth O'Donnell, a presidential adviser and close school friend of Attorney General Robert Kennedy.There have been complaints that "THIRTEEN DAYS" is not a completely accurate portrayal of the Cuban Missile Crisis. And that the Kenny O"Donnell character, portrayed by star Kevin Costner, was unnecessarily prominent in this film. I do not know if the last complaint is relevant. After all, O'Donnell was one of Kennedy's advisers during the crisis. But since Costner was the star of the movie and one of the producers, perhaps there is some minor cause for complaint. As for any historical inaccuracy . . . this is a movie adaptation of history. People should realize that complete historical accuracy is extremely rare in fictional adaptations - not only in Hollywood movies and television, but also in productions outside of the country, novels, plays and even paintings.Were there any aspects of "THIRTEEN DAYS" that I found . . . uh, annoying or off putting? Well, Kevin Costner's attempt at a Boston accent was pretty terrible. And if I must be frank, there was nothing exceptional about Roger Donaldson's direction. I am not stating that he did a poor job directing the film. On the contrary, he did a solid job. But there were moments when I felt I was watching a TV movie-of-the-week, instead of a major motion picture - especially in one of the final shots that revealed the President's advisers discussing policy in Vietnam, while Kennedy prepared to compose a letter to the relatives of a downed U-2 pilot.Other than Costner's Boston accent and Donaldson's less than spectacular direction, I have no real complaints about the movie. In fact, I enjoyed it very much when I first saw it, twelve years ago. And I still enjoyed it very much when I recently viewed my DVD copy of it. "THIRTEEN DAYS" is a solid, yet tense and fascinating look into the Missile Crisis from the viewpoints of President Kennedy and his advisers. Before I first saw this film, I had no idea that Kennedy faced so much trouble from the military elite and the more conservative advisers of his administration. I was especially surprised by the latter, considering that the President himself was not only a borderline conservative, but also harbored hawkish views against Communism.Although I would never view Donaldson as one of the finest directors around, I must admit that I was more than impressed by his ability to energized a story that could have easily been bogged down by a series of scenes featuring nothing but discussions and meetings. Instead, both Donaldson and Self energized "THIRTEEN DAYS" with a good number of scenes that featured tension between characters, emotional confrontations and two action sequences that featured military flights over Cuba. Among my favorite scenes are Kennedy's confrontation with Curtis Le May, his angry outburst over Le May's decision to engage in nuclear testing as a scare tactic against the Soviets; the flight of two U.S. Navy pilots over Cuban airspace; Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's confrontation with U.S. Navy Admiral George Anderson; and especially U.N. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson's confrontation with the Soviet U.N. Ambassador Valerian Zorin.However, Donaldson's direction and Self's script were not the only aspects of "THIRTEEN DAYS" that prevented the movie from becoming a dull history lesson. The cast, led by Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood and Steven Culp, provided some superb performances that helped keep the story alive. I am not going to deny that I found Costner's Boston accent cringe worthy. One would have to be deaf not to notice. But a bad accent does not mean a bad performance. And Costner proved to be a very lively and intense Kenny O'Donnell, whose close relationship and loyalty to the Kennedys allowed him to be brutally frank to them, when others could not get away with such frankness. Steven Culp was equally intense as Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who seemed to inject energy into every scene in which he appeared. But the one performance that really impressed me came from Bruce Greenwood's portrayal of the 35th President of the United States. Instead of portraying Kennedy as some one-note political icon or womanizing bad boy, Greenwood portrayed Kennedy as a intelligent, multi-faceted politician struggling to prevent the outbreak of a third world war, while keeping his high-ranking military officers in check. Personally, I feel that Greenwood may have given the best portrayal of Kennedy I have yet to see on either the movie or television screen. The movie also featured some first-rate and memorable supporting performances from the likes of Dylan Baker (as Robert McNamara), Michael Fairman (as Adlai Stevenson), Lucinda Jenney (as Helen O'Donnell), Kevin Conway (as Curtis LeMay), Madison Mason (as Admiral Anderson), Len Cariou (as Dean Acheson), Bill Smitrovich (as General Maxwell Taylor), and especially Karen Ludwig and Christopher Lawson as the sharp-tongued White House operator Margaret and the sardonic U.S. Navy pilot Commander William Ecker.I want to say something about the film's production designs and setting. If there is one aspect of "THIRTEEN DAYS" that I truly appreciated how J. Dennis Washington's production designs re-created the year 1962. And he did so without any over-the-top attempt at early 1960s style. Unlike some productions set during this period, "THIRTEEN DAYS" did not scream "THIS IS THE SIXTIES!". Washington's production designs, along with Denise Pizzini's set decorations and Isis Mussenden's costume designs presented the early 1960s with an elegance and accuracy I found very satisfying. Their work was ably assisted by Andrzej Bartkowiak's photography. Bartkowiak's work also supported Conrad Buff IV's excellent editing, which prevented the film from becoming a dull period piece.I do not know what else I could say about "THIRTEEN DAYS". I do not claim that it is a perfect film. I found Roger Donaldson's direction excellent, but not particularly dazzling or outstanding. And yes, Kevin Costner's otherwise first-rate performance was marred by a bad Boston accent. But he, along with an excellent Steven Culp, a superb Bruce Greenwood, a solid cast and a satisfying script by David Self made "THIRTEEN DAYS" an interesting and well made account of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
