13 Minutes

Freidel illuminates the inner struggle Elser goes through as, buttressed by his conscience and his Catholic faith, he finds within himself a strength of character and brave defiance that defines him as a hero in the truest sense of the word.

Friedel turns in a poignant performance as a man who feels that he has no choice but to act on his principles, regardless of the consequences.

13 Minutes is a taut, smart and straightforward bio-drama of this largely forgotten early figure in German resistance to the Hitler regime.

Despite moody flashbacks to the Nazi takeover, Hirschbiegel draws a blank. Elser remains an enigma, a great what-if whose German torturers cannot comprehend acted alone.

In the end, 13 Minutes isn’t about the timing or logistics of one man’s plot to kill Hitler at all, but about what made that man tick.

The movie is well acted and mostly absorbing, but it spells out everything so painstakingly that there's zero room for subtext.

This stiffly scripted film never quite stirs the emotions.