ARGO

Argo (2012)
Grade: B+
Directed by Ben Affleck
Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Victor Garber, Scoot McNairy, Tate Donovan, Kerry Bishe, Clea DuVall, Christopher Denham and Rory Cochrane
PREMISE: After six American diplomats escape captivity during the 1979 Iran Hostage Crisis, a CIA exfiltration expert devises a way to get them safely out of Tehran and back to the United States.

Rated R for language and some violent images

Argo is a rare thing. Here is one major studio produced film bearing the 'Based on a True Story' disclaimer where the said story actually deserves to be told. I might even go so far as to say it needs to be told. Coming from one of the darkest periods in American history (the 1979 Iran Hostage Crisis, in which 52 American embassy workers were kidnapped and held hostage by extremist Islamic militants for over a year), it brings a ray of hope and, even better, a spectacular ring of authenticity. Because there's no way this particular story--six embassy workers who escaped the embassy are given asylum in a Canadian ambassador's house for two months, and later smuggled out by the CIA without the aid of military personnel--would be believable were it simply made up. If fictionalized, in today's environment, it would have to be a military action picture, or no one would watch it. And then the story would undoubtedly strain credulity. To know that this is true, to know that it really happened, really makes the movie worth watching. And the story, which was kept in the CIA's Classified files for years, has only recently become common knowledge--the case was 'declassified' by President Clinton in 1997, and popularized in a 2007 Wired magazine article by Joshuah Bearman.

That it's true makes it credible and inspiring--two things Americans sorely need to feel during this highly unpopular election season.

Plot: By the late 1970s, Iranian militants had ousted the unpopular, westernized Shah and replaced him with the Ayatollah, a fanatical religious leader who led the whole country back to its Islamic roots. In 1979, enraged that the Shah was undergoing chemotherapy treatments in the US and not back home answering for his "crimes", angry mobs broke into and swarmed the American embassy in Tehran, binding and dragging off 52 American citizens. However, unbeknownst to the Iranians, six embassy workers escaped through a side door, fleeing to the nearby house of a Canadian ambassador (Victor Garber), where they were given shelter and food. Several weeks after the taking of the hostages, the US Government learned of the six's plight, and realized they must be extracted before the mobs of bloodthirsty militants find them.

CIA agent Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) is an exfiltration expert, hired to "get people out" of tight, backs-to-the-wall scenarios. After laughing off department suggestions that the escapees try to make for the Iran border on bicycles or try posing as Canadian crop investigators in order to gain diplomatic immunity (it's winter in Iran, after all), he receives a stroke of genius: have the six escapees pose as Canadian filmmakers location-scouting for a science fiction movie, wherein the exotic peoples and locales of Iran would be appropriate; give them thorough fake identities, real Canadian passports, and have them walk through airport security and out of the country. While his colleagues are initially skeptical of his idea, when he gets Hollywood big guns John Chambers (John Goodman) and Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin) on his side--not to mention an actual sci-fi script, the alien-world-war extravaganza Argo, as a front--he gets the green light. Once he acquires the passports, the paperwork and the fake identities, Mendez flies to Tehran and meets the six escapees. While they're by turns skeptical and terrified at his fake-moviemakers idea, he makes it clear that his idea may be the only one that will get them home.

What Works?
Again, the fact that this is all real--and painstaking research was clearly done to ressurect old newsreel footage or to re-create certain images of the Hostage Crisis--adds an enormous amount of credibility, and dread. This two-hour film is bookended by scenes dripping with suspense (the embassy takeover and the escapees' slow trip through airport security), and, in between, has a little bit of everything, from boardroom meetings and white-collar arguments to farcicial scenes of the Goodman and Arkin characters taking digs at Hollywood. And, of course, the scenes with the six escapees (played in subtle but effective performances by Tate Donovan, Clea DuVall, Christopher Denham, Scoot McNairy, Kerry Bishe and Rory Cochrane) are wrought with tension, fear and claustrophobia. Argo also has one hell of an edge-of-your-seat, heart-pounding ending, capped off by one of the most gratifying moments I can remember seeing in a movie in a while. You could almost hear everyone in the theater give a collective sigh of relief, and many were wiping tears.

Argo is not an actors' movie, but the roles are all well-cast and well-played. It takes a while for the escapees to really become characters, but, until then, Affleck keeps us in good company with himself (in an impressively understated performance), Bryan Cranston (superb in a tense role as Mendez' overworked right-hand man), and Goodman and Arkin (both having a ball). There are real laughs to be had, as well as moments of pathos and fear, and, of course, the movie rises to the occasion, rewarding the audience's attention with a real-life happy ending. Ex-President Jimmy Carter-on whose watch the Iran Hostage Crisis occurred-graces the credits with a short, meaningful voiceover.

What Doesn't Work?
There isn't much to say here. Only very late in the proceedings does Argo begin to feel long, and few moments feel manufactured. This is a very well-made movie.

Content:
Of course, there's cussing, but, refreshingly, there are no romantic interludes, and no unnecessary (and untrue) action or gunplay. Anyone expecting an us-against-them military adventure is going to be disappointed--this movie does its work-and succeeds at it-in the realms of dialogue, suspense, and attention to detail.

Bottom Line (I Promise):
Often feeling more like a documentary rather than a feature film, Argo tells an important, powerful true story with purpose and aplomb. The happy ending is genuine, but hard-earned after a quality exercise in pacing and suspense. Want a history lesson? Here's a great one for ya. It might just make you feel a little patriotic, too.

Argo (2012)
Directed by Ben Affleck
Written for the Screen by Chris Terrio; Based on the Wired magazine article by Joshuah Bearman
Length: 120 minutes
Rated R