Directed By Ron Howard; Screenplay By William Nicholson; Story By Don MacPherson & William Nicholson; Starring Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell, Joel Edgerton, Tom Bateman, Paul Gleeson, Pattrakorn Tungsupakul, Tui Thiraphat Sajakul, James Teeradon Supapunpinyo, Sahajak Boonthanakit, and Weir Sukollawat Kanaros.
Thirteen Lives is based on a true story of the Tham Luang cave rescue. On June 23rd, 2018, a group of young boys and their assistant soccer coach (James Teeradon Supapunpinyo) get trapped in a system of underground caves that are flooding. So a rescue mission is assembled, which consists of British cavers Rick Stanton (Viggo Mortensen) and John Volanthen (Colin Farrell) venturing out to Thailand for it.
Ron Howard has had quite an interesting career as a filmmaker. After having done a number of tentpole movies, he entered more serious territory with 1995’s Apollo 13. While he failed to make the Oscar lineup for Best Director that year, it has still been widely regarded as his best film to date. Ron Howard did eventually win for producing and directing 2001’s A Beautiful Mind, yet a number of people aren’t the biggest fans of that movie for various reasons. They feel that it’s this “standard biopic”, the weakest of the Best Picture nominees that year, and/or agree with the controversies it received for its historical inaccuracies. While Howard's previous film, 2020’s Hillbilly Elegy, did receive a couple Oscar nominations and was reportedly a commercial hit on Netflix, it was still slammed by critics. So how does his latest fare?
On a technical level, Thirteen Lives is very well made. Sayombhu Mukdeprom’s cinematography is quite stunning, especially with the underwater shots. The sound work is pretty great. Plus, I found the musical score by Benjamin Wallfisch to be very moving. Though on an emotional level, I felt so disconnected with what was going on throughout.
The script doesn’t really offer any character development. The editing by James D. Wilcox drags. This whole film feels a lot longer than its two and a half hour duration. Although I will give credit to everyone in the cast who does the best they can. Especially Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell, and Joel Edgerton, who all play some of the more prominent characters in the movie. Not to mention that there are definitely some touching moments found at different points in the second half, including the finale.
I may have been more positive on Hillbilly Elegy overall, but I do agree that this is definitely a step up from that movie. Though with that being said, Thirteen Lives still isn't among some of Ron Howard's best work. For those interested in watching (if you haven't yet), this film is currently available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
Rating: 3/5
Thirteen Lives is based on a true story of the Tham Luang cave rescue. On June 23rd, 2018, a group of young boys and their assistant soccer coach (James Teeradon Supapunpinyo) get trapped in a system of underground caves that are flooding. So a rescue mission is assembled, which consists of British cavers Rick Stanton (Viggo Mortensen) and John Volanthen (Colin Farrell) venturing out to Thailand for it.
Ron Howard has had quite an interesting career as a filmmaker. After having done a number of tentpole movies, he entered more serious territory with 1995’s Apollo 13. While he failed to make the Oscar lineup for Best Director that year, it has still been widely regarded as his best film to date. Ron Howard did eventually win for producing and directing 2001’s A Beautiful Mind, yet a number of people aren’t the biggest fans of that movie for various reasons. They feel that it’s this “standard biopic”, the weakest of the Best Picture nominees that year, and/or agree with the controversies it received for its historical inaccuracies. While Howard's previous film, 2020’s Hillbilly Elegy, did receive a couple Oscar nominations and was reportedly a commercial hit on Netflix, it was still slammed by critics. So how does his latest fare?
On a technical level, Thirteen Lives is very well made. Sayombhu Mukdeprom’s cinematography is quite stunning, especially with the underwater shots. The sound work is pretty great. Plus, I found the musical score by Benjamin Wallfisch to be very moving. Though on an emotional level, I felt so disconnected with what was going on throughout.
The script doesn’t really offer any character development. The editing by James D. Wilcox drags. This whole film feels a lot longer than its two and a half hour duration. Although I will give credit to everyone in the cast who does the best they can. Especially Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell, and Joel Edgerton, who all play some of the more prominent characters in the movie. Not to mention that there are definitely some touching moments found at different points in the second half, including the finale.
I may have been more positive on Hillbilly Elegy overall, but I do agree that this is definitely a step up from that movie. Though with that being said, Thirteen Lives still isn't among some of Ron Howard's best work. For those interested in watching (if you haven't yet), this film is currently available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
Rating: 3/5