Review of Argo, 2012 Oscar-winning film directed by Ben Affleck and starring Ben Affleck and Alan Alda

Argo is a kind of movie that allows you to breathe in each moment of the story as it unfolds while simultaneously taking your breath away with searing tension and emotion. There’s not a ‘Zero Dark Thirty’-esque moment of coyness in its direction and cinematography, and Argo isn’t sick of Lincoln-like dialogue, either: the movie is purely a rushed two hours that doesn’t even feel rushed for a moment. I deliberately chose to watch Argo after the eight other Best Picture nominees as it would make it easier for me to decide whether or not it deserved the praise and praise. After watching Argo, I understand why the movie won: it’s got this winning formula that the 2010 Oscars snubbed social network and Christopher Nolan’s ‘Inception’ had: it keeps you hooked every second every minute of its fitting 2-minute runtime. hours. You never get distracted, and not for a moment do you play or text aimlessly on your stupid cell phones.

Speaking of cell phones, Argo is a movie where phones play such an important theme because the movie is set in the late 1970s, a time when cell phones were still in their infancy. In fact, in the case of Argo, lives are on the line with phones, and there’s a climactic, chilling moment that will make you feel two things: 1) “Wow, how lucky we are to have cell phones these days!” and 2) “Dang! You could get away with it on those days!” What things? Well, pretending you’re a Canadian filming a ridiculous sci-fi movie in Iran for the real purpose of rescuing six fugitives who also need to play along by posing as the movie crew to flee the country (and oh, y’all are Americans by the way). Sounds crazy right?

This scenario actually happened in 1979 when Tony Mendez, an American exfiltration expert, rescued six American fugitives who were secretly camping at the official residence of the Canadian ambassador to Iran after escaping an invasion of the American embassy by Iranian revolutionaries. Our bearded hero (played by a generally clean-shaven Ben Affleck, who should rock this look in more movies because it suits him well for movies with serious themes) is summoned to a meeting where the other members seem unwelcoming to him, and yet however, they cannot. He didn’t stop following his idea, finding no better idea than the worst. At first, Tony comes up with a rather unfeasible plan, but soon rejects it, instead choosing the bogus Hollywood movie shooting plan after being inspired by a clip from Planet of the Apes and catching it during a conversation with his friend. son. For executing this ‘Are you serious?’ mission, he contacts Oscar-winning makeup artist John Chambers and producer Lester Siegel, who agree to produce, promote, and most importantly (for this film), storyboard this film. Tony poses as the film’s director in Hollywood so he can get an easy sanction to go to Iran to shoot, get permission from Iran’s cultural department to “shoot on location,” and then cancel the movie and leave, taking with him at six. refugees who will pose as the film crew, bringing with them fake Canadian passports given by Mendez. To these six refugees, Tony does not reveal his real name until he consciously reveals his identity to two of them in order to gain their trust. If Tony succeeds, not only the US, Canada and the CIA are celebrating, but also Hollywood, which could make all of this happen, the best part is that Argo the movie never actually happened.

Some of the things that have happened and perhaps are still happening in the world amaze us, and a scene that left me stunned comes later in Argo, where Iranian children are used to meticulously reassemble shredded documents that would reveal the identities of the six American refugees. What didn’t really surprise me, though, were the benefits a ‘movie’ related tag can give you anywhere; Just mentioning that you come from the film industry gives you some immunity or a respite in the US or Iran or anywhere else. There is an interesting scene in the film in which the charlatans team is accompanied by a member of Iran’s Cultural Affairs to scout locations in the bazaar and the latter asks the fake director, now played by one of the six refugees, if the film is about the life of a Canadian woman. romance with the culture of Iran and its people. That is precisely the kind of movies you see today that aim to sensitize different cultures and break down cultural barriers; My point here is that Hollywood can really help achieve that. The climax is another moment where the character’s fake movie credentials actually work for them, and it’s a treat to see something so implausible actually work.

Argo is not a performance-based movie but a story-based movie, but the presence of Ben Affleck, also the film’s director and producer, as the main lead works better because he’s like George Clooney, he doesn’t dominate every frame to show what so well he can act but lend his services to a very well written and directed movie. There are no standouts here, and I wasn’t expecting any, but the script is a winner and pulls everyone in to draw their characters well enough without overcomplicating them. Alan Arkin as Lester Liegel has the best line in the movie and is probably remembered for that line alone. If he watches that movie and doesn’t know what the line is, then you can go() yourself!