Anthology movies, or those in the style of anthologies usually are rough around the edges but at least have one overarching story that keeps the audience engaged. Unfortunately, in 13 minutes there are too many moving parts, with the overarching story coming in way too late for the audience to gravitate to a character, arc, or storyline. Atop of there being way too many storylines for the audience to be captivated by one story, there are too many political points being made that it all gets muddled, nothing truly gets to stand out and gets to shine, it just falls apart unfortunately.
Everything going on in the first hour of 13 Minutes, comes to a screeching halt when a tornado hits the town and everyone is left in the aftermath of the disaster trying to piece their lives back together. The cast features of Jess played by Thora Birch, Kim played by Amy Smart, Tammy played by Anne Heche, Maddy played by Sofia Vassilieva, Ana played by Paz Vega, and Brad played by Peter Facinelli. Everyone involved in this cast gets a few minutes to tell their story, their hardship, and then their aftermath from the tragedy, but its all interspliced so no story can be fully absorbed or taken at once. The muddled story telling unfortunately interferes with the casts talent.
13 Minutes has a lot to say, and a lot of it needs to be said, however with too many issues being brought up; being thrown against each other, and a tornado hitting past the hour mark of a one hour and forty-five-minute movie makes things hard to follow and care about. There is a lot that can definitely be taken from this film and further examined and explored to bring together something more coherent and passionate. 13 Minutes just takes everything, throws it at the screen, and sees what sticks. While it does make for a very convoluted film that misses the mark, by a lot, what is being said is important and needs to be said. 13 Minutes would’ve worked better as a limited series that fleshed out each story and then had the tornado hit and made each cast member be held accountable for their actions, and politically ramped backstories.
