Texan Mosaic

by CHESANIE BRANTLEY/Editor-in Chief

Thirteen hours was all it took to change the lives of every person at a U.S. Consulate in Libya.

“13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,” directed by Michael Bay, is a movie based on the true story of the Benghazi scandal in 2012.

The film begins with Jack, played by John Krasinski, on his way to Benghazi, Libya. When I first saw him, I was shocked that Krasinski would be the star in such a serious movie. He pulled off the part fantastically, though.

Bay did a tremendous job getting distinct angles. There were instances when the audience felt in the center of the action. The performances of the actors also played a huge part

in creating suspense and keeping the audience on the edge of his or her seat.

The six members of the Annex Security Team defending the U.S. Consulate were Jack; Tyrone, played by James Badge Dale; Tanto, played by Pablo Schreiber; Boon, played by David Denman; Oz, played by Max Martini; and Tig, played by Dominic Fumusa.

When Jack arrives, his old friend, Tyrone, picks him up. The two had served together before, so they knew each other well. Their dynamic came in handy when they came upon a road block. Libyans with guns wanted the two Westerners to abandon their car. The soldiers pulled out their guns simultaneously and also pointed them at the Libyans.

When the two get to the U.S. Consulate, Jack meets the rest of the team and members of the CIA. The Chief, played by David Costabile, obviously is not a fan of the soldiers being there to protect them. The Chief and Tyrone fight the entire time about the Security Team’s assignments and how Tyrone is not the leader of the team there.

Amahl, played by Peyman Moaadi, was one of the Libyans who the Americans called one of the “Friendlies.” Friendlies were Libyan people who did not want to harm Americans in Libya and were also referred to as “17 Feb.” Amahl had a large part in helping Americans communicate with other people in Libya.

United States Ambassador Chris Stevens, played by Matt Letscher, arrives in Libya and the Security Team does not approve of the U.S. Embassy’s security.

Eventually, the Embassy gets attacked by Libyans, because the Security Team was right about how terrible the security was there. The Chief did not let the Security Team leave, because they were not technically cleared. The six soldiers were itching to leave and finally loaded up in their cars, along with Amahl, to help everyone at the Embassy.

This is when the suspense in the film starts to build. The timing was perfect with everything happening at the Embassy.

After the attack on the Embassy, the Libyans went for the Consulate. At this point, the Americans had noticed something strange happening and did not know who they could trust. The film also got a lot more gory at this point.

The movie was very long, which was a downside to it. The beginning of “13 Hours” seemed to drag on. Jack’s backstory took a while to develop, and there was a lot of time spent with the teams just doing stuff in Benghazi.

Anyone who loves suspense should watch “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.” But be prepared to sit in a theater more than two hours. I would give the movie four out of five stars.