Movie Review: Argo

The American-embassy hostage crisis in Iran in 1980 was a long and drawn-out affair. Until it was declassified in 1997 by Bill Clinton, No civilians knew that there were five hostages that escaped the embassy and stayed with the Canadian ambassador. The hostages were then saved by the CIA after an operative worked out an elaborate and daring scheme of pretending to make a sc-fi movie to get them out of the country. Argo goes about telling this story in very entertaining fashion. You can tell that this was a passion project for Ben Affleck who wanted to bring this incredible and for the most part unknown story to life. Affleck again proves himself as a highly skilled director. He has a really good feel for making movies and with this being his third film in the director's chair, He continues to grow more comfortable as a filmmaker (Not that he wasn't already with his brilliant first two movies) . Argo is a definite change of pace for Affleck as a director with this being based a on a true story government drama/thriller opposed to his first two films which were Boston crime dramas. Affleck, of course, is also in front of the camera in the lead role as CIA operative Tony Mendes who comes up with the sci-fi movie scheme to rescue the hostages. The same flair that he has behind the camera,Affleck brings in front of the camera and his performance here is definitely Oscar-worthy. Argo does have a lot more going for it than Affleck. The film has a surprising amount of humor and a very suspenseful finale. The majority of the laughs comes from Alan Arkin and John Goodman as the Hollywood producer and makeup artist the CIA uses to make their fake movie seem legitimate. Arkin is at the best he's been in years and you believe that he really is a smartass, Hollywood producer with a seemingly endless arsenal of wisecracking one-liners. I can also pretty much guarantee that the last half-hour will have you on the edge-of you seat. Even though you know what is going to happen since it's a true story, this film lets the events unfold with a lot of excitement, suspense, and tension.

Although I enjoyed Argo a lot, I found it to be the weakest of Affleck's three movies. Not because it's not well-made, acted, or entertaining, but because of the generational gap. To fully appreciate this movie, you had to have lived through and be fully in-tune with 80's culture. Since I wasn't born until tweleve years after the events of the film took place, I didn't feel the urgency or utter importance of that situation and I think that makes all the difference in the world when comes to fully enjoying it. If you were alive during the events of the film, You will more than likely think it's absolutely brilliant. (The A+ Cinemascore is a big indicator of that). My mom and my aunt, who are both in their 50's, were raving about it's authenticity and accuracy towards the times and I'm sure that's true. Still generation gap aside, I thought Argo was a great, engaging, funny, and important film that deserves some love come Oscar time.

4/5 Stars