Review XLIV
Argo (2012)
I remember when I saw the trailer for Ben Affleck's Argo, I didn't seem too impressed. I couldn't remember exactly what the film was about, minus that the main character, played by Ben Affleck, was making a fake movie for some reason. When I saw that it had been pretty widely acclaimed (and this was only recently) and was based on a true event (which I saw in the trailer, but I always take these claims with a grain of salt), I decided I should give it a shot (uhh... no pun intended). I was probably being hasty on my judgement because I didn't want to end up seeing a bad movie. Anyway, let's review this baby!
Though it seems almost too comical to be true, this film is based on true accounts. The film begins with militants and civilians storming into the American embassy in Iran's capital, Tehran on November 4th, 1979, in support of the Iranian revolution (it's explained in the film so I won't go in depth). Six, out of the fifty-eight Americans that were there, manage to escape and are taken into the home of the Canadian ambassador, Ken Taylor (played by Victor Garber). The six Americans are Tate Donovan), Lee Schatz (Rory Cochrane), Mark Lijek (Christopher Denham), Cora Lijek (Clea DuVall), Joe Stafford (Scoot McNairy), and Kathy Stafford (Kerry Bishé) However, the American government realises that it won't be long before the Iranians find out six have escaped, so they need a plan to get them out. Enter Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck), a CIA specialist, who disagrees with all the ideas of having them pose as teachers in Iran. He comes up with an idea when he puts Battle for the Planet of the Apes on to watch it with his son. The idea? To pretend to make a film that is being filmed in Iran and have the six escapees as the crew. With the help of his supervisor, Jack O'Donnell (Bryan Cranston), a Hollywood make-up artist who has done previous work with the CIA, John Chambers (John Goodman), and the great film producer, Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin), they may just be able to pull off the greatest fake film of all time - Argo.
First of all, I really like the cover for the film. I find it very expressive and the contrasting blue and red colour make it an interesting view. It's not really necessary for the critique of the film, but I just thought I'd mention it. Ahhh, Ben Affleck, haha.
Anyway, the film is definitely interesting. You get the perspective of the six Americans held captive in Iran and how stressed they are, and then we get the perspective of the CIA trying their best to come up with a good idea. When the film idea is pitched, it is initially put down, but in the end, seems to be their best bet to get their fellow people out. While this is obviously simply based on true events and thus some aspects are dramatised, this was not - they actually pretended to make a fake movie to get these people out. These real life events just seem like a good plot to put on film, and with Ben Affleck's directing, it was really well done. It was suspenseful and really crazy at some points, but mostly, heartfelt. Tony Mendez went on a line with his life doing this, and so did Ken Taylor with actually accepting them in after they had been turned down by other embassies. Just a little tidbit, but apparently Lee Schatz actually stayed with the Swedish embassy for a week before joining the rest of the group. Ben Affleck went ahead and commented that this demonstrated real international relationships between nations, with risks of their lives and their stature, and I couldn't have said it better. The film captures this very well, as well as the suspenseful bits. Even though I knew what would happen, I was still yelling as I watched the film. It also had some funny aspects ("Argo fuck yourself!"), which made it even more appealing. I'd also like to say, as a side note, that, while it doesn't place Iran in the best of terms, it isn't fair to criticise it for doing so. The film is seen from the American perspective, and while Iranians did attack the U.S. embassy as a revolt for reasons that maybe you support, it can still be considered a good movie. It mostly focuses on how they got the Americans out, and, again, this is a film from the American side of things as it is based on an article written by an American. If you're going to simply boycott watching the film because it is biased, you're missing out.
The film's plot was really interesting, but I couldn't say the acting was really all that exceptional. It wasn't bad, not in the least, but it wasn't exceptional. I really enjoyed Alan Arkin's performance, but Ben Affleck's performance wasn't anything extraordinary. The six Americans also didn't have exceptional performances. Again, I have to reiterate that the performances were good, but they were not anything really remarkable, minus the great crabby portrayal of Lester Siegel from Alan Arkin. Still way better than I could have been, though!
The film was a really interesting piece of history, and I thought it was a really good film. The plot was great, and the acting was good, so I guess the film gets eight point five stars on ten. It's not my typical kind of film, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. Now I'd like to see the "real" Argo come out!
