Fake Movie, Real Mission

Review: Argo

 

With Gone Baby Gone and The Town, Ben Affleck proved he could direct a really good movie and showcase the acting ability of his stars (Amy Ryan in the former film and Jeremy Renner in the latter were each nominated for Oscars for Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor, respectively).

With Argo, Ben Affleck proves he can direct a truly great film. Leaving behind the Boston setting of his previous two movies, Argo has a larger scope, a more thrilling sense of tension, and a greater sense of importance, despite having fewer memorable character moments.

It is 1979, the year of the infamous Iranian Hostage Crisis, as 52 Americans are held hostage in the American embassy for 444 days. This story obviously dominated news coverage, but a lesser known yet true story concerns 6 Americans who escaped and hid at the Canadian ambassador's house. With the icreasing danger of their discovery, the CIA undertakes a risky plan to get the Americans out of the country under the guise of being a film crew, led by operative Tony Mendez.

It sounds crazy, but it is absolutely happened and Affleck masterfully crafts a film which perfectly captures the bizarrly true and perilous nature of the mission. Working with an expert script from Chris Terrio (Heights), Argo finds a perfect blend of fraught tension as the events in Tehran unfold and surprising humor as it searingly satirizes Hollywood and those who work in the movie business.

The storming of the emassy by rioting Iranian protestors in the film's epilogue and the daring escape by the Americans in the film's climax grip audiences into rapturous attention, so tauntly has Affleck balanced this story.

But Argo is a pretty funny movie too, due largely in part to the brilliant casting of John Goodman (The Big Lebowski) and Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine). Goodman plays a real-life Hollywood icon, Oscar-winning make-up legend John Chambers (Planet of the Apes), who later in life was award special recognition from the CIA for his contributions to secret missions, while Arkin plays a producer who may be fictious, but remains a humorous and emotional contribution to the film.

Argo also just feels real. From sets, to costumes, to stylistic choices in cinematography, you truly feel in the moment throughout the movie.

My only complaint is that Affleck's character, along with the other Americans attempting escape, are all realtively boring compared to the exciting events going on around them. It's a good thing the story is so interesting and the craftmanship creating the film is so talented, because the characters to whom the story matters the most are simply uninteresting and emotionless.

That being said, Argo is a really entertaining movie, another masterful work from Affleck, and a film perfectly worthy of the Academy Award buzz it is sure to recieve for Best Writing, Best Director, and Best Picture.

The Final Word: Go buy a ticket.