Film Review: Argo (2012)

In the 2012 film Argo directed by Ben Affleck, Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) and Jack O’Donnell (Bryan Cranston) are given the task to exfiltrate six US embassy workers hiding out in Tehran. Angry Iranian protestors are rallying outside the US embassy in Tehran, when the mob starts to hop over the gate. The embassy workers begin to frantically destroy all of the documents in the building. Soldiers try to hold off the mob with tear gas and smoke grenades, but the militants get inside the embassy and start taking hostages. However, in the mass confusion, six American embassy workers escape out a service entrance and flee into the streets of Tehran. By luck they make it to the Canadian Embassy and hide out in the Canadian Ambassador’s house. Historically, this was dubbed the Iranian Hostage Crisis, but the movie focuses on the 6 workers not taken hostage. Tony Mendez and his boss Jack O’Donnell come up with a plan to sneak out the six US citizens in Iran. Tony Mendez, a CIA agent decides to make a fake movie to trick the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. He proposes that he flies to Iran with seven Canadian passports, picks up the refugees, and leaves the country on the basis that all seven of them were looking for places to shoot a movie in Iran. Before this could happen, he had to find big Hollywood directors to “produce” this fake movie that he calls Argo. A whole back story is created, and Tony Mendez leaves for Iran to save American lives.

Going into this movie I was rather skeptical. Historically, movies based on historical events completely suck when dramatized in Hollywood. The previous historical movies have either been overdramatized to the point where they are completely inaccurate or so real that they are as boring as history class. Argo, however, was fantastic. It had slightly dramatized action, actual footage, and factual sections; it was an amazing blend.

For me, this movie had a plethora of positive, and a few negatives. I loved the altogether feel of the picture, but there was too much swearing to be accurate. The movie was great at building up tension without much action, but with the strain of excruciating time pressure. In the Iranian airport, the group of refugees learned that they would have to sit in an anti-American airport for three hours because their plane was having technical difficulties. At the last airport security check, the refugees and Mendez were interrogated for a very long time about their movie production credentials. The guards took so long interrogating them that they were seconds away from missing their flight to freedom. The biggest problem I had with the movie was, surprisingly, there was too much swearing. Cuss words were intended to add a sense of danger and urgency, but they were used so much that they lost their effectiveness. I found it disappointing that the main comedic punch line of the movie was “ar-go fu** yourself.” I would have thought a good movie like this would be more tasteful.

Argo had a very good cast and script writer. All of the actors did a very good job of making the audience feel the sense of urgency and international tension that the CIA agents would have felt. The actors were very good because they were serious at the times where they needed to be, but at other times they were funny to generate a lighter tone in the film. I commend the script writer for this script. The movie had a perfect amount of comedy dispersed throughout the production so that it wouldn’t be dreary and tiresome to watch. The action scenes were my favorite type; the building of tension rather that unrealistic explosions and fire balls. The writers gave Argo a very realistic sense of the events that took place by not exaggerating the circumstances. Overall, the script is phenomenal and the actors were amazing.

This movie was a great joy to watch because it keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time because the operation extends all the way to the end. This movie is geared more towards the older audience because of the historical nature. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that it appeals to all audiences because it is a blend of many genres, but it is mostly action and historical. The movie critics loved it just as much as I did because it won three Oscars; Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Achievement in Film Editing, and Best Writing/Adapted Screenplay. Overall, I would recommend this movie anyone that enjoys being taken on a journey of thrills, laughs, and tensions.