I'm a weather buff who expected drama with a tornado not a bunch of tornadoes with a little bit of drama. That's what I got and I'm fine with it. I actually really liked it. (The closer you get to the bottom of this, the greater likelihood of SPOILERS!)
Before folks downvote the heck out of this (because I've noticed that many folks are downvoting nearly every single review that even remotely suggests something positive about this film), I should acknowledge that, yes, some of the acting was a bit painful. Some of the dialogue was equally so. And, while I am gay and somewhat liberal, I could have done without some of the filmmakers' obvious political leanings.
However, those things don't destroy the film. They're momentary blips, like "that actor's facial expression is painfully fake/forced" or "OMG, that line was rather unnecessary". Overall, it's still a really strong film despite its flaws.
I think that storm chasers (many of them) and weather nerds (and I count myself among them) expected a repeat of Twister and thank God that didn't happen. Everyone knows that Twister's heart was in the right place but most of the dialogue was laughable (with some of it being completely inaccurate), the characters were cartoonishly one-dimensional - at best, with a bunch of great actors (including two future Oscar winners) completely wasted - and the subplots were predictably painful.
13 Minutes, however, is a drama that focuses on the lives of ordinary people and provides a devastating tornado as its centerpiece. It's a slow burn while introducing everyone and showing how they're interconnected but you know something's coming. You know they will all be affected and they all stand to lose something significant. There's a degree of suspense when you realize this tornado is nearly on them but they don't.
Those of us familiar with some of the most horrifying EF4 or EF5 tornadoes in recent history know what the aftermath looks like. By the time that happens, you are truly invested in some of these characters (you could care less about a couple of them as well but that's understandable/inevitable). You feel the emotion or experience the shock alongside them. I was actually pretty choked up. It was like being in Moore or Joplin or Tuscaloosa on the worst day of their lives. It was almost as if you *knew* these people and suffered their loss.
I won't say this is an Oscar winner but it's hardly the debacle critics have suggested it is. As was said by others, you have to watch this film for what it is and not what you want it to be.
NOW, the worst of the potential SPOILERS (STOP NOW if you don't want to see the SPOILERS):
The scummy preppy kid and the gay kid's parents should have been totally Jarrelled. The fact that the parents survived that nightmare while NOT being the storm shelter is one of the most unrealistic things about this film. The mother looked mighty good for someone who was on the top floor of a farmhouse almost completely obliterated by a probably-EF4 tornado. The father's neck would have been broken after he carted off on that stupid ATV thing directly into the path of that monster! And, let's be frank, the pregnant girl should NEVER have let scummy-preppy guy into the house in the first place. He definitely didn't deserve that bathtub.
In hindsight, nobody died. Even that hairdresser who was practically crushed by a building still got carried off on a stretcher. Some deaths - preferably the jerks - would have been more believable.
Before folks downvote the heck out of this (because I've noticed that many folks are downvoting nearly every single review that even remotely suggests something positive about this film), I should acknowledge that, yes, some of the acting was a bit painful. Some of the dialogue was equally so. And, while I am gay and somewhat liberal, I could have done without some of the filmmakers' obvious political leanings.
However, those things don't destroy the film. They're momentary blips, like "that actor's facial expression is painfully fake/forced" or "OMG, that line was rather unnecessary". Overall, it's still a really strong film despite its flaws.
I think that storm chasers (many of them) and weather nerds (and I count myself among them) expected a repeat of Twister and thank God that didn't happen. Everyone knows that Twister's heart was in the right place but most of the dialogue was laughable (with some of it being completely inaccurate), the characters were cartoonishly one-dimensional - at best, with a bunch of great actors (including two future Oscar winners) completely wasted - and the subplots were predictably painful.
13 Minutes, however, is a drama that focuses on the lives of ordinary people and provides a devastating tornado as its centerpiece. It's a slow burn while introducing everyone and showing how they're interconnected but you know something's coming. You know they will all be affected and they all stand to lose something significant. There's a degree of suspense when you realize this tornado is nearly on them but they don't.
Those of us familiar with some of the most horrifying EF4 or EF5 tornadoes in recent history know what the aftermath looks like. By the time that happens, you are truly invested in some of these characters (you could care less about a couple of them as well but that's understandable/inevitable). You feel the emotion or experience the shock alongside them. I was actually pretty choked up. It was like being in Moore or Joplin or Tuscaloosa on the worst day of their lives. It was almost as if you *knew* these people and suffered their loss.
I won't say this is an Oscar winner but it's hardly the debacle critics have suggested it is. As was said by others, you have to watch this film for what it is and not what you want it to be.
NOW, the worst of the potential SPOILERS (STOP NOW if you don't want to see the SPOILERS):
The scummy preppy kid and the gay kid's parents should have been totally Jarrelled. The fact that the parents survived that nightmare while NOT being the storm shelter is one of the most unrealistic things about this film. The mother looked mighty good for someone who was on the top floor of a farmhouse almost completely obliterated by a probably-EF4 tornado. The father's neck would have been broken after he carted off on that stupid ATV thing directly into the path of that monster! And, let's be frank, the pregnant girl should NEVER have let scummy-preppy guy into the house in the first place. He definitely didn't deserve that bathtub.
In hindsight, nobody died. Even that hairdresser who was practically crushed by a building still got carried off on a stretcher. Some deaths - preferably the jerks - would have been more believable.