The 2000 film contains some newly declassified information not available to the earlier production, but takes greater dramatic license, particularly in its choice of O'Donnell as protagonist.

In October 1962, U-2 aerial surveillance photos reveal that the Soviet Union is placing intermediate-range ballistic missiles carrying nuclear weapons in Cuba.

Spy plane pictures continue to be ordered, but one of Kennedy's top advisers, Kenneth O'Donnell, calls the pilots to ensure they do not report that they were shot at or fired upon, because if they were, the country would be forced to retaliate under the rules of engagement.

A long message in the same tone as the informal communication from Fomin, apparently written personally by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, is received.

There are several mis-steps during the crisis: the defense readiness level of Strategic Air Command (SAC) is raised to DEFCON 2 (one step shy of maximum readiness for imminent war), without informing Kennedy; a U.S. nuclear weapon test proceeds (Bluegill Triple Prime) and a routine test launch of a U.S. offensive missile is also carried out without the President's knowledge.

In a bid for time while under pressure from the military for an immediate strike, President Kennedy authorizes attacks on the missile sites and an invasion of Cuba, to commence the following Monday.

After much deliberation with the Executive Committee of the National Security Council, Kennedy makes a final attempt to avoid a war by sending his brother Robert to meet with Soviet ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin on Friday night.

President Kennedy later dictates a letter of condolence to the family of the reconnaissance pilot, Rudolf Anderson, who was shot down over Cuba as part of the preparations for the invasion.

The film was co-produced by several studios, including New Line Cinema, Kevin Costner's Tig Productions and Armyan Bernstein's Beacon Pictures.

The website's consensus states: "Thirteen Days offers a compelling look at the Cuban Missile Crisis, and its talented cast deftly portrays the real-life people who were involved.

[8] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave Thirteen Days a rating of 3 stars out of 4, and said "The movie's taut, flat style is appropriate for a story that is more about facts and speculation than about action.

The movie shows men in unknotted ties and shirt-sleeves, grasping coffee cups or whiskey glasses and trying to sound rational while they are at some level terrified...[T]hings might not have happened exactly like this, but it sure did feel like they did.

[10] Prior to seeing the movie, McNamara reacted to the premise in a PBS NewsHour interview: "For God's sakes, Kenny O'Donnell didn't have any role whatsoever in the missile crisis; he was a political appointment secretary to the President; that's absurd".