ARGO: A Review

Warner Brothers : USA : Rated - R : Running Time - 120 mins


Argo tells the story of an actual CIA mission to rescue the six members of the U.S. embassy hiding out in Iran, who escaped when the embassy was overrun by Iranian nationalists in 1979. After vetting several options the government decides to send in a lone agent to bring them home, getting them out of the country by posing as a Canadian film crew scouting a location for the fake Hollywood blockbuster film "Argo." The mission is successful, end of story.

Unfortunately that is the feel of this movie, straight forward, no nonsense and also no real drama. The film is based on actual events and I believe it is very difficult to make a movie suspenseful when your audience already knows how the events play out. The best films that are based on true stories and still find a way to be impactful find other aspects of the events or the people involved and bring those to the forefront to parallel the actual events in the film. Argo, unfortunately, stays focused on the mission the entire time and presents it as being pulled off without many hiccups. The two main road blocks in the mission provide no real drama because we ultimately know the mission is a success.

Ben Affleck directs his third feature film and once again proves he is much better behind the camera. The film is quick, it doesn't drag and none of the 2-hours are wasted. Affleck also stars as Tony Mendez, a specialist in extraction, who develops the idea of a fake movie, pitches the plan to his government bosses, puts the plan into action with the help of make-up artist John Chambers (John Goodman) and producer Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin) and flies to Iran to execute the plan, all the while having the emotional range of old wall paper. It's just there, existing in the background, like it's supposed to. He gets no help from the actors playing the roles of the embassy employees, who we never get to really know on any level other than their characters constant complaining about being rescued. Alan Arkin and John Goodman steal this film. They provide the comedy relief with biting criticism of the current Hollywood environment.

Basically, Argo is an interesting story where the actual material might be just as entertaining if not more entertaining than a film based on that material. Alan Arkin deserves any and all recognition he gets, but overall the film underwhelms.

Snobby Art House Rating - B-