Movie Review: 13 (2010)
An average movie with a slow plot
If you're looking to buy or rent this movie, I wouldn't recommend it. I sat through the majority of it while taking a few short breaks and was fairly disappointed overall. By the end of the movie, I was expecting to see some sort of twist or action but I was left feeling disappointed.
The movie focuses on the main actor, Henry, played by Michael Shannon, who stumbles upon an opportunity in what he overhears to be something like a once in a life time opportunity whereby he can instantly make his fortune in a matter of a few days. The course that Henry takes isn't as pleasant as he thought it would be, with his fortune coming at the cost of having to enter an arena with a number of other men standing in the shape of a circle, each with guns pointing to another's head. The aim of the game is to have a single bullet loaded in the revolver, cock the revolver, point it towards the head of the man in front, and once the light bulb in the room lights up...shoot! Some are lucky enough to survive, while others, not so lucky. It's a gruesome game, especially when there's a number of spectators betting hundreds of thousands of dollars on the winners of each round. It's a game of last-man standing in which the victor earns a large enough sum of money to last them a fortune, yet still not as much as the amount being gambled by the spectators.
The movie also stars Jason Statham as Jasper, and Ray Winstone as Jasper's brother - Ronald Lynn. Towards the latter part of the movie we discover that Jasper had taken his brother out of a mental institute to have him compete in the game in an attempt to earn enough money for them both to start new lives together. Unfortunately for Jasper, his gambling and optimism doesn't go as well as he had hoped for, with a bitter sweet ending.
If you're looking for something more than just the movie focusing on the gruesome game full of blood and gambling, then you're better off turning the movie 15minutes into it because there's not much else to it.
Overall I rate the movie as a 4/10. With well known actors including Jason Statham and Ray Winstone, I was expecting to see them in a major role as opposed to supporting actors. Probably not worth the time if you're expecting a dramatic change in the plot as it focuses on the same, simple story line most of the way through.
