WASHINGTON — It’s become one of the biggest political footballs聽of the past four years, pitting Congressional Republicans against former聽Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a controversy that has undoubtedly shaped聽our political conversation聽heading into this weekend’s Iowa Caucuses.
But regardless of your politics, the 2012聽attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya was an undisputed tragedy聽resulting in the deaths of聽U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, 聽U.S. Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith and CIA operatives Glen Doherty and聽Tyrone Woods.
Now, director Michael Bay explores the attack聽in the new action thriller聽“13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.” It opens after the U.S.-assisted overthrow of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi,聽as fresh recruit聽Jack Da Silva (John Krasinski) joins a team of six security contractors: Tyrone “Rone” Woods (James Badge Dale), Kris “Tanto” Paronto (Pablo Schreiber),聽Dave “Boon” Benton (David Denman),聽John “Tig” Tiegen (Dominic Fumusa) and Mark “Oz” Geist (Max Martini).
They’re stationed at a CIA annex聽a mile away from the ill-fated U.S. diplomatic outpost, where Ambassador Chris Stevens (Matt Letscher), Glen Doherty (Toby Stephens) and others are fatally outnumbered. As hand-wringing聽CIA base chief Bob (David Costabile) hesitates to authorize reinforcements, the secret聽security contractors choose to take matters into their own hands.
Going into the film, any moviegoer聽would have ample reason to doubt Bay’s filmmaking relevance.
After all, it’s聽been roughly 20 years since Bay made anything decent with “The Rock” (1996) and “Armageddon” (1998).聽The former was one of the best action flicks that Sean Connery or Nicolas Cage ever made set against a memorable Alcatraz backdrop, while the聽latter was selected for聽the prestigious聽, as Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thornton and Steve Buscemi pioneered the sort of聽sci-fi action comedy found to this day in movies like聽“The Martian” (2015).
But that was the late ’90s. Since then, we’ve seen “Pearl Harbor” (2001), which ignored lessons from “From Here to Eternity” by putting聽its attack climax too early in the film;聽“Bad Boys II” (2003), which gave聽Will Smith and Martin Lawrence some聽cheap laughs in an inferior sequel;聽“The Island” (2005), which was panned for its聽“THX 1183” similarities: “Pain & Gain” (2013), which paired Mark Wahlberg & The Rock for a mediocre buddy comedy; and five bombastic “Transformers” (2007-2017).
But if you聽doubted Bay’s ability to handle the seriousness of Benghazi, consider yourself pleasantly surprised in “13 Hours.”聽Yes, we get over-the-top slow-motion and obligatory patriotic imagery,聽but it’s far more restrained filmmaking than we’ve come to expect from Bay.聽That’s a compliment.
Likewise, if you shuddered upon realizing American lives were in the hands of聽Pam Beesly’s two romantic rivals from “The Office” — Jim (Krasinski) and Roy (Denman) — you needn’t worry. The ensemble cast works to the film’s advantage with聽convincing聽turns by聽Schreiber (“Manchurian Candidate”), Dale (“World War Z”), Fumusa (“Nurse Jackie”) and聽Costabile聽(“Breaking Bad”).
While the performances are all quite solid, the script could have done more to flesh them out.
Based on a book by Mitchell Zuckoff (who previously penned Robert Altman’s 2009 biography),聽“13 Hours” is adapted by Chuck Hogan, who co-created FX’s “The Strain” (2014-present) and penned such novels as “Prince of Thieves,” which ultimately became Ben Affleck’s “The Town” (2010).
Despite such impressive credits,聽“13 Hours”聽marks聽Hogan’s feature聽film screenwriting debut, which shows as the script pays frustrating聽lip service to the characters’ backstories. We get a Skype call here, a flashback there, but none of it carries much weight, particularly a stunted flashback of a聽tree fort with cliche dialogue: “One day you’ll wake up and realize you missed the best part of life.”
We never quite get the character study that Kathryn Bigelow gave聽Jessica Chastain in “Zero Dark Thirty” (2012) or that Clint Eastwood provided for Bradley Cooper in “American Sniper” (2013).
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Perhaps the best聽comparison is the Best Picture winner “Argo” (2012), directed聽by Bay’s own “Armageddon” and “Pearl Harbor” star Affleck.聽While that film聽depicted the storming of the U.S. Embassy during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, its release came on聽Oct. 12, 2012 — just a month after the Benghazi attack on Sept. 11, 2012. The聽chilling comparisons were very fresh in viewers’ minds.
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Conversely, “13 Hours” arrives a full four years after the attack,聽allowing Benghazi fatigue to set in after countless congressional hearings, Sunday talk-show debates over the existence of protest videos, and endless聽media sound bytes. The Associated Press recently compiled an in-depth , but this film critic would’ve rather seen Bay聽take a concrete stance on what went wrong.
If you’re anti-war, you appreciated “Argo” for its聽opening animation聽of the聽Shah, providing context for anti-American sentiments聽by聽the Iranian militants. If you’re hawkish, you appreciated聽“Zero Dark Thirty” for suggesting that U.S. torture lead聽to Osama Bin Laden. We can debate these opinions聽all we want, but at least the filmmakers took an angle to explore. “13 Hours” shies away for 2 1/2 hours.
Perhaps this was Bay’s聽attempt to make the film apolitical, but in doing so, we miss out on the larger picture. Why did these Libyan militants聽storm the U.S. compound? Was the State Department negligent聽in its聽response? Was there a cover-up after the fact to save face on a 9/11 anniversary?
When the end credits roll, we still don’t have the answers to these important questions. All that’s left is a gripping portrait of these men, ending in a creative final image that is undeniably聽touching. It’s a reminder to never forget these brave men on the front lines around the world, not only the ones who receive the medals and the parades, but also the unsung heroes behind the scenes risking it all.
If only the movie took similar risks.
