As always with dramas based on history, I recommend reading the real story first. Movie goers who see “13 Minutes” will have their curiosity peaked and will have a desire to know the full story after seeing it.

“13 Minutes” is the story of Georg Elser (played by the fantastic Christian Friedel), whose assassination attempt on Adolph Hitler brought him notoriety. The movie is well done in most places, pays attention to detail, and draws the viewer in as we watch Elser planning the murder, constructing the bomb, and spending evenings in the hall where Hitler is to speak so he can pull off what would have made him a hero in the eyes of many.

Despite the stellar acting — especially from Burghart Klaussner — the police chief who questions Elser, the story wastes some time with overdone interrogation scenes and too many moments telling about Elser’s family and love life. Although much of that information is somewhat necessary to understand the man, we might have been even more intrigued by the story had we been shown more of why Elser eventually became a national hero in Germany.

After reading more articles on the real Elser and learning a little more about his life as well as the assassination plot, I feel the movie could have provided a lot more for viewers to chew on.

If you are a history buff, go see it. If not, see it later and you might become a history buff.

The movie is rated R for scenes of torture and death, as well as extramarital sex, and is subtitled. It has a running time of  one hour and 50 minutes and opened Friday in select theaters.

My grade: B-