13 (2010 film)

Plot

Vincent "Vince" Ferro overhears people talking about a dead man who was going to start a well-paid job. Ferro, in need of money, steals an envelope containing the instructions for the job. He arrives at an event in a secluded place. He is ordered to strip, and his boot heels are cut off, in order to check for surveillance equipment. The organizers accept him for the job instead of the dead man. The job is participation in a series of Russian roulette games. There are several participants, identified by number. In each round, the participants have to spin the cylinder of their revolver, and shoot when the light of a special light bulb is switched on. The event is organized for the enjoyment of rich spectators, one of these spectators being Jasper Bagges, who places bets on who will survive. Bagges bets on his brother Ronald, who was brought from the mental institution.

In the first round, the participants each get one bullet in their revolver, they are arranged into a circle, and each has to aim his revolver at the man in front of him. Ferro tries to back out, but he is forced to participate. As #13, he survives the first round and fires his gun only after being threatened with death. In the second round, in which two bullets are placed in each gun, Ferro survives only because the man behind him is killed before he could fire. In the third round, with three bullets in each gun, Ferro again survives, along with four other men. Ferro is one of two survivors randomly chosen to participate in a duel. The three others are finished and get a large sum of money. One of them, Patrick Jefferson, who was brought from prison to compete, is surprised that he is free to go, and he is escorted out by Jimmy, one of the employees. Jimmy then tries to kill Jefferson, attempting to steal a map Jefferson has, leading to money he has stashed from a robbery. Another employee catches Jimmy in the act, and demands that he stop, insisting that nobody is allowed to harm the surviving players. Jefferson collects his belongings and leaves.

Against the odds, Ferro wins the duel and gets $1,850,000 (USD). He also learns that his opponent won his last 3 duels. He collects his winnings and sneaks away from the mansion, arriving at a train station. When he spots police closing in on him, he stashes his winnings in a garbage can. After being interrogated by the police, he retrieves the money and sends it to his family, via registered mail, and buys a toy for his sister's birthday. However, on the way home, he is shot by Jasper, partly in revenge for Ferro having killed Ronald, and partly to steal the money, as he thinks Ferro still has the money with him. Jasper escapes with the money bag, not knowing that it only contains the toy.

Cast

The film features Mickey Rourke, Jason Statham and David Zayas, who all starred in The Expendables which was released before this film.

Production

The film was directed and written by Géla Babluani, who directed and wrote the original film. A trailer was released in August 2010. Filming began on November 17, 2008 in and around New York City.

Reception

13 received critically negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an 8% rating, stating that only 1 out of the 13 reviews for the film was positive, with an average score of 3.8/10. On Internet Movie Database, the film received an average user rating of 6.1/10

The New York Times film critic Stephen Holden considered 13 "a blustering, bad cartoon." V.A. Musetto of the New York Post criticized the film for being shot in color rather than the original's black and white, and for the addition of character back stories, "which serve only to slow the film’s momentum." The Hollywood Reporter said "Géla Babluani's English-language remake of his French debut loses the source's gritty, mysterious gloom."