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Created Jan 18, 2016 02:58AM PST • Edited Sep 12, 2024 12:29AM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Great 4.0

   The 2012 Islamist militia attack on the two U.S. outposts in Benghazi Libya comes alive as a colossal and utterly predictable central-government failure in 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. Truth!

   The amazing thing is that only four men died, even if one was Ambassador Chris Stevens, a great guy who everybody loved, even the Libyans. He was the first U.S. Ambassador killed under attack in 33 years.

   Gut wrenching, yes, but it ends heroically, and goodness knows it could have ended worse, much worse. It didn’t due to half a dozen American heroes. These are real American heroes, not the made up or NFL kind.

   • ‘Rone’ Woods, the stellar leader, gets well played by James Badge Dale. Woods didn’t make it.
   • Jack Da Silva gets played by John Krasinski, the biggest name in the cast, yet 2nd fiddle to Dale.
   • ‘Oz’ Geist gets played by the estimable Max Martini, the best military actor working today.
   • ‘Tig’ Tieten – former Marine – gets played by Dominic Fumusa.
   • ‘Tanto’ Paronto – former Ranger – gets played by Pablo Schreiber.
   • Boon gets played by David Denman
   • ‘Bub’ Doherty gets played by Toby Stephens

   The movie steers clear of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, President Obama, VP Joe Biden or anyone in Washington, though it flashes shots of the Pentagon & White House as the Attacks on Benghazi continued.

   The indictment of Clinton, Obama & Biden is in the title of the movie — 13 Hours.

   The actual attacks lasted almost that long: 8-9 hours by various accounts. During that time, the American Government sent nothing to Libya: not F-16s from nearby Sicily, not armed drones, not Navy, not nothing. The situation was predictable and our outposts were laughably unprepared. Worse, no visible effort was made to deal with the attacks as they happened, for an eight hour period! Her whereabouts during the hours of the attack on Benghazi remain a U.S. Government secret, as do those of POTUS Obama. Shame

   Hillary trails dirt like Pig Pen in a pantsuit. Her failure to ensure a modicum of prudence in a militia-controlled city is exceeded by her craven disappearing act while the crisis on her watch went on for eight long hours. Yet all that is topped by the ultimate sin for a government leader. She lied to the face of Charles Woods, father of KIA hero Ty “Rone” Woods, telling him that the U.S. would “make sure that the person who made that film is arrested and prosecuted.” She denies it, but other Gold Star Parents confirm it.

   Hillary’s 3AM phone call came on 9/11/2012 and she failed about as badly as possible.

   Three days later at Dover Air Force Base, she blamed a YouTube video, thus packing the wound with salt.

   The movie is therefore consequential and important, apparently even accurate, notwithstanding the fog of war. Ambassador Chris Stevens, Tyrone Woods, the other two KIAs and the former SEALs, Rangers and Special Ops guys who pulled the fat from the fire deserve our attention. Let’s give it to them.

4. Acting

   Very Good 3.5

   Matt Lutscher plays Ambassador Chris Stevens as an amiable and idealistic suit.

   Actors Playing Real American Heroes

   • James Badge Dale plays “Rone” Woods as a consummate professional in a dangerous line of work.
   • John Krasinski underwhelms as family-man / special operator Jack Da Silva
   • Max Martini is nails as “Oz” Geist. Maximillian was famously Mack Gerhardt on The Unit.
   • Dominic Fumusa gives former Marine “Tig” Tiegen a charming charisma.
   • Pablo Schreiber as “Tanto” Paronto, former U.S. Army Ranger
   • David Denman as Boon, the intellectual of the bunch
   • Toby Stephens as “Bub” Doherty

   CIA Hacks

   • David Costabile as The Chief who infamously orders the Heroes to “Stand Down”
   • Freddie Stroma as an undercover CIA officer in Libya
   • Alexia Barlier as another undercover CIA officer

5. Male Stars Great 4.0

6. Female Stars Good 3.0

7. Female Costars Good 3.0

8. Male Costars Very Good 3.5

10. Film

    Great 4.0

    Michael Bay specializes in explosions of the phony-balony variety, so recreating a real-life firefight is well within his wheelhouse. Yet his film proves hard to follow for non-cognoscenti and includes at least one head-scratching scene. It involves F-16s.

    Flaws aside, 13 Hours tells an important true story more than well enough to achieve greatness.

11. Direction Great 4.0

12. Play Great 4.0

13. Music Good 3.0

14. Visuals Great 4.0
15. Content

16. Edge

    Sordid 2.6

    War is savage. This night-long battle literally ripped some people apart while nearly dismembering others. Gird your loins.

17. Sex Innocent 1.3

18. Violence Savage 4.0

19. Rudeness Profane 2.6

21. Reality

    Glib 1.1

    One assumes that Hillary’s Hitmen are hard at work trying to discredit 13 Hours. Surely there is something in it that fudges the truth, which is why I rate its CircoReality as 1.3x actual reality, out-and-out rectitude by Hollywood standards. Indeed, the film’s opening title card states “This is a true story.” So it appears to be.

    Cinema reality aside, 13 Hours definitively clears up several questions.

    • Were the attacks on Benghazi caused by a stupid YouTube video? No.
    • Were they an organized militia attack, most likely by the Islamist Ansar al-Sharia? Yes
    • Were the State Department, CIA and DoD utterly useless during the night-long conflagration? Yes

22. Circumstantial Glib 1.3

23. Biological Natural 1.0

24. Physical Natural 1.0