13 Hours-The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, Review: Michael? No Bay!

This 144 minute film is a good 44 minutes too long for its own good. It reconfirms the golden rule that true stories are not necessarily film material, unless worked-on real hard by a team of talented individuals, more behind the camera than in front of it. That it is produced and directed by Michael Bay adds to the disappointment. How accurate it is, in terms of recent history, is a matter of debate, both in the USA and in Libya. How inaccurate it is, in terms of hitting cinematic bulls eye, is too apparent to debate.

13 Hours-The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi sets its story in 2012, in Benghazi, Libya, which, they say, was ‘named’ as one of the most dangerous places in the world at that time, and all countries had pulled their embassies out of the country, in fear of an attack by militants. (There was a campaign to oust President Muammar Gaddafi, a staunch critic of the US, and many believed that the campaign was orchestrated by the US). The United States, however, kept a diplomatic outpost open in the city.

Less than a mile away was a not-so-secret CIA outpost called The Annex, which is protected by a team of Private Military Contractors ‘Global Response Staff’, made up of former special operations personnel. New to the place is Jack Da Silva (Krasinski), who arrives in Benghazi by flight and is picked up at the airport by Tyrone S. "Rone" Woods (Dale), a member of the team and a personal friend of Da Silva. Arriving at the Annex, Da Silva is introduced to the rest of the team and the chief Bob (Costabile), who constantly gives the team strict reminders to never engage the citizens, to avoid conflict with possible militants in the area.

The U.S. Ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens (Letscher) arrives in Benghazi, from the capital Tripoli, to maintain diplomatic connections, amidst the political and social chaos. Despite warnings, Ambassador Stevens decides to stay at the Special Mission, with limited protection from a pair of Diplomatic Security Agents (DSAs), and guards hired from the local ‘17-Feb’ militia. On the morning of the eleventh anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Stevens notices suspicious men taking pictures of the compound, and notifies his security team. That night, a group of Islamic militants assault the compound.

A covert and controversial military operation made its way to the book 13 Hours: A Firsthand Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi by Mitchell Zuckoff, which was given to Chick Hogan to turn into a screenplay, by Paramount. Zuckoff had previously authored six previous non-fiction books, including the New York Times bestsellers Lost in Shangri-La and Frozen in Time. He is a professor of journalism at Boston University. The company had bought film rights even before the book was published. Chuck Hogan is the author of several acclaimed novels, including Devils in Exile and The Killing Moon.  The Town was awarded the Hammett Prize for excellence in crime writing, and named one of the ten best novels of the year by Stephen King.  He is also the co-author, with Guillermo del Toro, of the international bestseller The Strain. Co-writer and director Ben Affleck adapted his novel Prince of Thieves into a film, retitled The Town. When Hogan’s agent came to him with the proposal to adapt the book, he said "We have this great story, it's about Benghazi," and Hogan says he felt, “Oh my gosh, I don't want to wade into that morass!” But he thought about it, and felt that there was story in it, about the people, not the politics.  Hogan had the screenplay ready by 2014.

Directed by Michael Bay (music videos, Bad Boys/2, The Rock, Armageddon, Transformers x 4), 13 Hours-The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi lends itself to polarised right wing and left wing views. As a film-maker, that should be the least of his concerns. What he could reflect upon are directorial decisions like throwing hordes of Libyans in swarm after swarm at the facility, when a single, large force would have sufficed. If the Libyans were so serious about destroying the base, they should have brought the decisive mortar launchers in the first hour, not the 13^th. The way he has shot the repeated arrival of militia groups, each arrival followed by the same question to the Chief, “Are you expecting any ‘friendlies’?” reduces it to comedy. Snipers on the roof are standard military issue. So what new do we learn by watching them go on and on, and die in the end? Detailing is good, action thrilling and crowd scenes well-executed, especially the two road-block scenes. Drone shots are breath-taking, as most drone shots usually are. Too many characters keep coming and going, and, after a while, it impossible to remember either names or designations. Is this in the class of Michael? No Bay!

James Badge Dale (The Departed, Iron Man 3, The Lone Ranger, The Walk) is hard-nosed, a real tough guy. John Krasinski is handsome, has a long face, a long nose, and vulnerability beneath the uniform. Somewhat type-cast is Pablo Schreiber as Kris "Tanto" Paronto, a former U.S. Army Ranger. Matt Letscher looks like an Ambassador, but his motivations are vague. Toby Stephens as Glen "Bub" Doherty, a Global Response Staff (GRS) officer, security team member, and good friend of Jack Da Silva arrives with a rescue team and exudes strength amidst impossible odds.

What do you know? There is a female in the cast too. Ah yes. There was one, wasn’t there? French actress Alexia Barlier (Viper in the Fist, Conversations With My Gardener, What We Did on Our Holiday) plays Sona Jillani, an undercover CIA officer, posing as an Exxon Oil representative. How did I miss that detail? Sona means gold in the Indian sub-continent and Jilani (not Jillani) is a common Muslim surname. Was there somebody with this name? Or is it a mere pseudonym? David Costabile is the guy they keep asking for permission to launch an attack, and he keeps saying no. It is a role that evokes no sympathy and another one that questions motivation, though he does have an official line as an excuse. Given these facts, Costabile is okay. Andrei Claude as Bandolier, the leader of a militia who carry out the attacks on the US embassy and CIA annex in Benghazi, is seen time and again only in passing.  As the interpreter Amahl (could that be Amal mis-spelt?) who is forced to turn gun-wielding killer, Peyman Moaadi is effective.

Closing titles reveal that all of the members of the Annex security team have since retired and live with their families.

This time around, Michael Bay is unable to address or engage either young adults, adult adults or old adults, among the general audiences. Militarily inclined, 30+ viewers, especially those with young children, might find something to take home. They may also wonder whether governments should have bases and diplomatic outposts in areas of conflict, especially if they “do not exist” officially.

Rating: **

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CJBuUwd0Os

One opinion

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/01/15/review-michael-bays-13-hours-is-a-coded-message/207993

Michael Bay’s response to a posting on the website, Deadline

Regarding Yesterday’s ‘Deadline’ Article

Posted on Michael Bay’s website, michaelbay.com, on Jan 26, 2016

Shame on you Deadline. Your article “Libyan Filmmakers Question Authenticity Of Michael Bay’s 13 Hours” is downright shoddy and irresponsible journalism.

Deadline writer, Ali Jaafar, did not call me for comment. He actually just spoke to one Libyan director, Osama Rezg, trying to promote his movie. Note the poster of his film at the head of the piece.

It’s nice to know Deadline now promotes fellow directors talking ill of other directors. This Libyan director reviewed the film by only looking at the 2-minute trailer. He said, “Just from the trailer, you can see it’s not Libya.” Well, my fellow director – it’s now becoming an ISIS stronghold, so Americans are sort of, not welcome in that neck of the woods. In fact in the NYT today, they announced that the Pentagon is opening a new third front on ISIS: Libya. (The film was shot in Malta and Morocco).

Director Osama Rezg says “I wish Director Michael Bay would have spoken to us.” I do too, Osama. You say none of my actors were Libyan. Hard to tell by the trailer, but we had over 24 Libyan people on our cast. They all left after the revolution, to the safety of Malta. We even had Libyan advisors who were at the compound that day. As well as a Libyan who was Stevens’ very close friend and was supposed to see him at his brother’s wedding party that night he died. Chris decided not to go that night, which proved to be a deadly decision.

Osama, you say, “Even what characters were wearing is not authentic to what a Libyan would wear.” Well you should take that up with my Oscar winning costume designer, Deborah Scott. She’s pretty sharp at researching history. She did the Titanic. All I know is we matched the FBI-released Consulate surveillance photos on that night, September 11th 2012. Maybe you didn’t see those?

And I know Libyans, as you say, “We were saddened by Chris Stevens’ death, we mourned for him.” In the trailer it shows—oh shit—it’s only in the movie where you see over 100,000 people mourning the death of Chris Stevens in the streets of Libya.

Osama I’m glad you got everything off your chest that you didn’t like in the trailer, and promoted your movie after slamming my name. Good luck on your film.

As for the Deadline writer, he actually changed the original title from ‘Filmmakers’ to ‘Filmmaker,’ because he got wind from Deadline staff that he might have not done the best fact-checking.

Note to writer: if you change the title to cover your honesty tracks, then change the words “filmmakers” in the body of your piece as well. Just a thought.

Michael Bay