"Argo" opens with a very quick summary of the events that led up to what is now generally remembered as the 'Iran Hostage Crisis', during which a group of Iranians, having overthrown the US-installed Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi, stormed the US embassy in Tehran and took the staff hostage. Wisely avoiding getting overly embroiled in this sweeping story, the screenplay (by first-timer Chris Terrio, based on an article by Joshuah Bearman) quickly tightens focus on a group of six staffers who escaped the embassy and sought refuge in the home of the Canadian ambassador. The CIA, tasked with spiriting them out of Iran, assigns veteran exfiltration expert Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck, "The Town"), who cooks up the bizarre scheme of pretending to be scouting locations for a movie, setting them up with passports and identities as his production team, and walking them right through the airport security, onto a plane, and home. As his boss wryly notes, "It's the best bad plan that we have."
A spy movie in a sense, "Argo" feels nothing like what we have become accustomed to with the likes of Jason Bourne and James Bond. There are no car chases, no gun fights, and few gadgets - and none are needed to enhance the very natural tension of the situation. Mr. Terrio doesn't write supermen, just average people who are doing their best to muddle through life-and-death decisions, and that works perfectly for this story. There's little moralizing and demonizing beyond what is necessary to convey the seriousness of the danger confronting these people, which is a welcome relief considering the current geopolitical climate. The best thing that can be said for the script is that it is simple, in the best possible way. The character scenes are based on small connections, bits of backstory, and simple motivations, just enough to get the audience invested without bogging-down the pacing.
Mr. Affleck, in his third directorial effort, matches this simplicity behind the camera. Shooting in the bland color palette reminiscent of the television and movies of the period, he stands back and lets his actors play their parts. There is no need and no place here for stylized shots and camera trickery, and he doesn't use them. It's clear that he trusts his actors, his writer, and his story enough to back off and let them do their jobs. His trust in his audience is nice too, in that there's no musical cues or jump cuts to force viewers into specific reactions.
In the event that it wasn't already blaringly obvious that Mr. Affleck is a force in Hollywood, the cast of "Argo" underlines it. A veritable who's who of character actors and headliners shows up to play even the smallest parts. Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Victor Garber, Tate Donovan, Kyle Chandler, and Clea DuVall are just the tip of the iceberg, the only downside being that such well-known faces can be occasionally distracting, even under the bowl cuts, moustaches, and thick-rimmed spectacles of the era. Still, an over-abundance of talent is pale criticism, and watching Mr. Arkin and Mr. Goodman ham it up as the bordering-on-comic-relief producer and make-up artist behind the fake film is worth getting pulled out of the story for a moment or two.
In addition to continuing to develop his directorial skills, Mr. Affleck also shows that he has developed a knack for finding the right parts for himself, as his Tony Mendez requires little more than a steely-eyed, jaw-clenched determination, both skills that Affleck has had in his back pocket since "Armageddon".
"Argo" works because it doesn't try too hard and simply lets the action happen. Two things that are all too rare in movies these days.
| Movie title | Argo |
|---|---|
| Release year | 2012 |
| MPAA Rating | R |
| Our rating | |
| Summary | Ben Affleck lets a solid script, solid acting, and a solid story gel into a great movie. |
