Argo Review

Affleck debriefing his fake film crew in Argo

Argo

A+

A review by Frederick Cholowski

It’s not often that the actor/director switch yields a better director than actor. Thus seems to be the case with Ben Affleck as his third film behind the camera (and technically in front of the camera as well as he is the lead actor) Argo (not to be confused with the 1996 modern classic Fargo) is an absolute triumph of a thriller that harkens back to the days when thrillers didn’t have to double as an action movie. The film is intense and pulse pounding without having to having things blow up or people being shot every five minutes. In this era of special effects driven action thrillers this is a massive, welcome breath of fresh air.

Argo is based on the true story of the rescue mission of six members of the American Embassy (Tate Donovan, Rory Cochrane, Christopher Denham, Clea Duvall, Scoot McNairy, and Kerry Bishe) in Iran. The six Embassy members were left hiding in the Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor’s (Victor Garber) residence after Iran military students ransack the Embassy and take the rest of its staff hostage. Insert exfiltration expert Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) who needs to help the director of the CIA Jack O’Donnell (Bryan Cranston) get them out of Iran and back home without getting them killed. The plan is to create a fake film, a sci-fi Star Wars rip off entitled “Argo”, with the help of makeup artist John Chambers (John Goodman) and producer/director Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin) and pretend that the group trapped in Iraq is a Canadian film crew working on the project. Thus begins a near suicide mission that puts the lives of Mendez and the six trapped in grave danger.

It’s not often in a film that the “based on a true story” label is essential to the film. In Argo the label is used to full effect as Affleck really attempts, and very much succeeds, at capturing the feel of the American/Iranian relationship in the late 1970’s early 1980’s. The use of old footage and newscasts is really effective here as it creates an atmosphere that’s a little nostalgic and very frightening. The effective atmosphere aids in the draw of the film as time and place is a really important factor when telling a story such as this.

Argo also happens to be a very well written thriller that capitalizes on an older 1970’s and 1980’s style of thriller. There are no car chases, gun fights, or fist fights to be had in this film just a tightly weaved set of “that was too close”. There is constant tension throughout the film and even if one knows the “real story” moments going in it’s hard not to be at the edge of your seat throughout the majority of the film. Another great reason for “the edge of your seat” feel is because Affleck and writer Chris Terrio make these characters likable and easy to root for. Even though character is definitely not the focus of this film at all there are still great moments in which the characters get some great moments to shine (none probably as great as the running joke “Argo f*** yourself” that is used in many contexts throughout the film). The film is just over two hours but the ride is so tightly packed and so well made that it never feels its length.

Affleck is also quite effective in front of the camera with his muted performance of Mendez. Affleck is never flashy and stays mostly as fodder for his supporting cast to play off of, which isn’t a bad thing at all considering the amazing supporting cast he’s assembled. Bryan Cranston, who you could stick in anything (like the dud of a remake “Total Recall”) and he would be fantastic, is, in the moments he is used, quite fantastic. John Goodman and Alan Arkin help add a great since of humor to the film and adds lots of spice to the middle of the film (which in a lesser film would be filled with too much boring exposition).

The technical aspects of the film help create the atmosphere through the use of almost grainy 70’s like shots along with the implementation of the old authentic news clips. The film’s look is truly unique and it feels very close to the look of the thrillers of the olden days. The film’s score is a typical thriller score with “time ticking” tunes that always let you know when things are getting intense.

Argo is tight, extremely well made thriller that harkens to the days of classic thrillers that used suspense as their primary tactic. Argo is constantly exciting, and pulse pounding but it also has time to captivate through the use of interesting characters and great supporting performances. Overall Argo is a triumph and a great addition to the ever growing (this has just been a great fall so far hasn’t it) list of this year’s A+ level films.