This is what it's come to people. If
director Ben Affleck is making a movie, you pretty much have
to go see it. I don't know near enough about the craft
of filmmaking to know what makes one film director more
skilled at his craft than another, since as far as my
knowledge takes me the director is just the guy in the
monogrammed chair that yells 'ACTION' and 'CUT', but obviously
it's more involved than that. However when it comes to
sitting on my ass and looking at movies… I'm pretty good at
that. Ben Affleck hasn't let me down yet and his latest
film 'Argo' continues his hot streak of crafting intense,
gripping, dramatic themed thrillers.
'Argo' begins with a quick primer on the history of the nation
of Iran just to let the audience know why the majority of the
country was so darned unhappy with the United States in the
late 1970's. Ultimately what the Iranian people want is
the Shah of Iran to be sent back home from his exile to stand
trial for crimes against the people and then executed for all
to see, but at the present he's in the United States where he
was being treated for some form of cancer.
Most everyone is aware of the Iranian Hostage Crisis when the
U.S. embassy was stormed and 52 embassy workers were held for
444 days, but what fewer people were aware of was the six
Americans that slipped out the back door as the mob was
busting through the front door. Somehow these six made
their way through town and to the home of the Canadian
Ambassador where they would hole up and pray for somebody to
somehow, some way, rescue them.
How in the world are we going to get into Iran and sneak out
six American Citizens? And if it's going to be done, it
has to be done very soon because the militants are
aware that the embassy is six people short
and they are somewhere hiding out in their country. If
they find them, judging from the people we saw hanging from
the neck from construction cranes, it won't be good for
them. CIA specialist Jack Mendez (Affleck) has a
plan. It's not a good plan, but as they informed us
during their strategy sessions it is the least worst plan that
they could dream up.
This plan was to pose as a Canadian film crew scouting
authentic locations for their Sci-Fi epic 'Argo', legitimize
this fake film by hiring a top notch Hollywood makeup man in
John Chambers (John Goodman), and a real live Hollywood
producer in Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin) to take care of all of
the movie loose ends, then fly into Tehran, trick some
Iranians into thinking that these six Americans are part of
the Canadian film crew, and then jet out to Switzerland.
Simple.
Hardly. There are problems for Mendez and his little
movie plan all the way around. His bosses don't think
the mission has a chance in hell, the Iranians barely believe
his cover, the people he's trying to rescue are proving to be
an obstacle in their own success and when the rubber is about
to hit the road it's looking like his own government is about
to abandon him. There's no chance this can
succeed. You would think. However I doubt they'd
greenlight a movie about six Americans dangling from the light
posts on the streets of Tehran.
I'm on record as saying when I want to see a well done,
tight, taut, white knuckle thriller I usually have to go to
France because at this point and time the French apparently do
thrillers best. Uh… make that the French and Ben
Affleck. Pretty much from the word 'Go', where the
action is taking place in and outside the American Embassy in
Tehran, to the final escape attempt, 'Argo' drips with tension
and it rarely lets go of you. Sometimes you might sit
there wishing it would let go of you, but no… the tension
keeps escalating as the movie goes on and it just keeps
choking you out.
But it is those rare occasions where the tension lets up and
'Argo' kicks back a little that it becomes a little easier to
observe a couple more of the films strong points, these being
some very smart and clever writing and some strong
performances turned by some of the best character actors
working in films today. Brian Cranston brings his usual
high level of performance as Mendez's boss Jack O'Donnell, but
in particular John Goodman and Alan Arkin as the curmudgeonly
Hollywood old-timers are particularly good and have several
purposes in support of this film. They are integral in
giving us, through Mendez, an eye on the B.S. that is the
Hollywood way, of course they are key in pulling off the ruse
that is the movie Argo, but most importantly, in a movie that
is full of tension and almost completely humorless, their
occasional appearances tend to reset everything and allows the
audience to reconstitute themselves before the next wave of
this impossible mission kicks off to make us uneasy again.
Should director Ben Affleck have cast actor Ben Affleck as the
lead? There might've been better choices I guess and I'm
sure director Ben Affleck and producer George Clooney could've
gotten anybody they wanted to be in this movie… say like their
good friend Matt Damon… but personally I thought Affleck was
fine in the role. As Mendez he was commanding, in
charge, and gave an air confidence that barely masked the
underlying uncertainty the character was
experiencing.
No doubt about it, at least if you ask me, 'Argo' is a top
notch thriller re-enactment about a very dark time in our
nation's history, and one of the best movies we've seen in
this year of 2012.
