Hollywood, more so than ever, tries to react fast. Bearing in mind that COVID would have delayed the following productions, the Tham Luang cave rescue in Thailand of summer 2018 has already inspired a Thai-produced film, a documentary, a forthcoming Netflix limited series and this, Ron Howard's Thirteen Lives. Oversaturation is Hollywood's bread and butter at this stage, but does Thirteen Lives manage to justify its own existence?
Telling the story of the event that gripped the world just a few short years ago, twelve boys and their soccer team coach become unexpectedly trapped within the chamber of a newly-flooded cave. A worldwide extraction mission begins as experts from numerous fields race against the clock to save the stranded. Howard directs Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell, Joel Edgerton and Tom Bateman in the Amazon Prime-adopted project.
It only takes a single glance at director Ron Howard's spotty filmography to see that he is a man who loves his melodrama. His last feature length, Hillbilly Elegy, reeked of the stuff, while Best Picture-winning A Beautiful Mind is arguably the most Oscar baiting film that ever successfully Oscar baited. Thankfully, Thirteen Lives mostly manages to avoid the pitfalls that push his true-life inspired tales into mawkish territory and the film thrives as a result of that. While not to underplay the remarkable nature of the story and the (spoiler alert) uplifting positivity of its conclusion, Howard's direction remains grounded, technically well-executed and surprisingly thoughtful.
Perhaps it is the screenplay by William Nicholson that keeps Howard on the straight and narrow, procedural, almost documentarian in nature. Even at a substantial 147 minute runtime, it rarely feels over bloated or lethargic. Although disappointing that it never finds time to explore the fear and survival of the titular lives on the line, placing more weight in fact than emotion, and plot than character, it is clearly an intended decision to align with the film's tone and goals. These men saved countless lives but it doesn't seek to paint them as superheroes, which is arguably more of a tribute to them than figuratively decorating them with capes and powers.
Our principal cast give robust performances that suit the more grounded approach to the subject matter. Mortensen, Farrell and Egerton work in collaboration to give a realistic depiction of the teamwork required to extract the entrapped lives, showing the rapport and trust these men needed to cultivate given the scale and pressure of the mission at hand. Nobody here is trying to steal the show or is gunning for a glorious speech to bathe in award season-glory and it really is refreshing to see.
Rather surprisingly given the director at the helm, Thirteen Lives is a no-thrills, straightforward re-telling that rejects some of the melodramatic flourishes of the "true life, against the odds" Hollywood formula. It appears fact-driven, unconcerned with titivating events or fabricating drama, understanding that the remarkable truth at its core is more than enough to engage audiences. With director Ron Howard's restraint matched with the solid if understated work from his actors, Thirteen Lives is a well-told, refreshingly unmanipulated tale of humanity and collaboration.