Argo

Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Victor Garber, Tate Donovan, Clea Duvall, Scoot McNairy, Rory Cochrane, Kyle Chandler, Zeljko Ivanek, Titus Welliver, Richard Kind
Directed by: Ben Affleck
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Thriller
2012

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: To rescue six Americans hiding in Iran in 1980, a CIA agent (Ben Affleck) goes undercover as a Hollywood producer filming a science fiction film to help them escape.

Review:

Tim: Ben Affleck has pulled off a pretty amazing feat- his first three directorial efforts, Gone Baby Gone, The Town, and now, Argo, are all great movies. In fact, Argo is very likely his best film yet. That's pretty stunning. I cannot believe what a terrific director Affleck is. Here, he takes a fascinating true story and crafts a brilliant, thrilling film around it. This is a pretty excellent movie.

On one hand, Argo feels a little strange, because not much actually happens. There's not a lot of action, there's no shoot outs, and we don't see much killing. And yet, Affleck somehow manages to create this thoroughly engaging, exciting, nerve-wracking movie. That is a huge achievement.

The story itself is amazing, and even more incredible because it's true. The CIA goes into Iran to rescue Americans by pretending to film a science fiction movie there, called "Argo". The whole thing seems absurd, but is mind-blowing because it is true. This lends credibility to the whole film and makes it seem important and worth watching.

The cast is good, but not quite great. Affleck himself plays the lead role. While I would not call his performance great, he does give a strong turn. He doesn't have a great deal of acting to do (he's mostly quiet and stoic throughout the film), he still manages to make us care about his character and root for him. It was great seeing Bryan Cranston in a small role. John Goodman and Alan Arkin were fantastically cast. Arkin gives perhaps the best performance of the film, and delivers many of the funniest lines (the Argo line with a profanity was really, really funny). Arkin was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (the only acting award from the film). The rest of the cast is comprised of actors who look vaguely familiar, but aren't famous enough to have us immediately recall their names. This was a terrific move, as we can relate to the cast, but don't view them with many preconceived notions. It's pretty amazing how each of the cast members looked very similar to their real-life counterparts. That aspect of the film was terrific.

Affleck is really the reason this film succeeds. His direction is incredible. The opening scenes are very tense, showing the Iranian mob in their takeover of the U.S. Consulate. This was done very realistically, and with an eye towards depicting the event as it actually happened. I really appreciated that attention to detail. We also get a number of scenes showing the CIA's thought process in trying to figure out a way to rescue these six Americans. The whole "Argo" plan was ridiculous, but just crazy enough that it might have worked ("This is the best bad idea we have."). I loved the lengths they went to in order to create this fake movie with real credentials. It's an amazing story, and one that deserves to be told.

The scenes in Iran are incredible because of how tense and thrilling they are. Affleck does an outstanding job of creating these slow boiling, intense sequences. Even though we know how the movie ends, it's still incredibly nerve-wracking to watch the events unfold on screen. That is due to Affleck's brilliant directing.

Argo was nominated for 7 Academy Awards, winning three. It won Best Film Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay, and of course, Best Picture. The big story at the 2012 Oscars was Affleck's snub for Best Director. I really do not understand how he wasn't nominated, because Affleck's direction is what made this movie great. Still, it won 3 Academy Awards, and Affleck got his statue as a producer on the film. I really enjoyed this movie. While I would never consider this one of my favorite films, I'm blown away by how Affleck took an interesting story in which not much happens, and turned it into this thrilling, exciting dramatic film. That effort is what elevates Argo to the next level. This is a great movie, and Affleck continues his stunning run of making incredible movies.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 8



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Apollo 13, Munich, Gone Baby Gone, The Town