Argo

In 1979, Militants storm the U.S. embassy in Tehran in retaliation for the nation's sheltering the recently deposed Shah. More than 50 of the embassy staff are taken as hostages, but six escape and hide in the home of the Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor. Argo is the joint CIA-Canadian secret operation to extract six fugitive American diplomatic personnel out of revolutionary Iran. Directed, Produced and starring Ben Affleck, this is a dramatic telling of a true story.

Cast

Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez
Bryan Cranston as Jack O'Donnell
Alan Arkin as Lester Siegel
John Goodman as John Chambers
Tate Donovan as Bob Anders
Clea DuVall as Cora Lijek
Christopher Denham as Mark Lijek
Scoot McNairy as Joe Stafford
Kerry Bishé as Kathy Stafford
Rory Cochrane as Lee Schatz
Victor Garber as Ken Taylor

Who will like this:

Anyone alive to see the red, white and blue polyester suits of the bicentennial of the USA will be familiar with the topic of this movie. However, I'm not sure how many people are familiar with the way those 6 diplomatic employees were rescued. Those who do know the facts, will know that Argo takes some dramatic license much like “A Beautiful Mind”. I think older teens and 40 somethings and over will be drawn to this. It's a dramatic history lesson that is a good emotional journey.

Phantom Thoughts

I really enjoyed this movie. I think Ben Affleck did an incredible job acting and directing this film, which is so hard to do normally. I don't know if I've seen him in any other role like this and the way the movie flowed and showed suspense when there really was little to be had was done brilliantly. Alan Arkin was fantastic as the fictitious Lester Siegel (his character was a compilation of real life people involved), and John Goodman's portrayal of Hollywood make-up artist John Chambers was just outstanding!

There were a few historical inaccuracies, but what movie based on a true story doesn't? I think the choices made in adding or taking away from what really happened did not hinder the main points of this event. I believe the biggest differences were that it made the CIA look like they had more to do with the rescue than they actually did and diminished the Canadian effort somewhat. Also, there were some tense situations that were added to give suspense than what actually occurred. The last part of getting the diplomats out ran a lot more smooth than was depicted in this film.

It's kind of difficult to make a movie about something that happened where you already know how it's going to end and make it exciting and interesting. Something that still keeps your attention of if they will make it or not, similar to what Ron Howard did in “Apollo 13”, is not an easy task, but it is pulled off successfully by Affleck.

I really liked the end of the movie during the credits as well, where the passport photos of the actual people were put side by side with the actors who played them, as well as archive pics from that time with corresponding scenes in the movie. When a movie that has been out for a month and a half still gets applause from the audience, you know you have experienced something great. I can easily see a few Oscar nominations for Argo.

Until next time, see you in the center seat.