13 (film)

13 is an English-language remake of the 2005 French film 13 Tzameti. The film is directed and written by Géla Babluani, who directed and wrote the original film.^[1] A trailer was released in August 2010.^[2]

Plot

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 lightbulb is switched on. The event is organized for the enjoyment of rich spectators, who place bets on who will survive.

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 was brought from prison, where he served a sentence, and is surprised that he is also free now.

Against the odds, Ferro wins the duel and gets an even larger sum of money. 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. On the way home, however, he is killed by Jasper, partly in revenge for Vince having killed Jasper's brother, the other duelist, 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

• Sam Riley as Vincent "Vince" Ferro; a naive young man who stumbles into the competition.^[1]
• Mickey Rourke as Patrick Jefferson (originally Jesse James Jefferson); a Texan Cowboy broken out of a Mexican jail and sold into the competition.^[3]
• Ray Winstone as Ronald Lynn Bagges; a competitor who has been sprung from a mental institution to participate.^[1]
• Jason Statham as Jasper Bagges; a wealthy British man who bets on the competition and has a peculiar interest in one of the competitors.^[1]
• 50 Cent as Jimmy; an employee assigned to escort Rourke's character to the bloody game.^[1]
• David Zayas as Detective Mullane; a cop on the trail of the illegal game. Ray Liotta was originally cast.^[1] Zayas met with director Géla Babluani about a part but nothing came out of it. After Liotta dropped out, Babluani called Zayas back and offered him the role.^[4]
• Emmanuelle Chriqui^[5] as Aileen.
• Michael Shannon^[5] as Henry.
• Ben Gazzara^[5] as Schlondorff.
• Alexander Skarsgård^[5] as Jack.
• Gaby Hoffmann as Clara Ferro; Vincent's sister.

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

Production

Filming began on November 17, 2008 in and around New York City.^[6]

References

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• 13 at the Internet Movie Database