In 1979 the republic of Iran erupted into a revolution and Islamic militants stormed and took over the U.S. embassy in Tehran. The militants took 52 American hostages but 6 of them managed to get out a back exit and make their way to the Canadian embassy. In the Canadian embassy, they were also imprisoned, in a way. Although they were safe in the embassy for the time being, the entire nation of Iran was in chaos and they were lashing out at Americans. It wasn’t safe to leave and getting out of the country was nearly impossible. Their days in the embassy were numbered and the American government knew they had to act fast to save them.
"Argo" is based on an improbable but true story that was classified for years until 1996 when President Bill Clinton declassified it. Faced with impossible odds, Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck), a CIA officer, was brought into a meeting to discuss how to rescue them. As was described in the film, Mendez came up with the best bad idea they could up with. It didn’t occur right away, but the idea was to go through all the actions of a potential moving filming in Iran and fake the hostages as members of the crew scouting out a location to film. Helping him was a Hollywood makeup artist named John Chambers (John Goodman) and Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin).
Ben Affleck directed and starred in the film, not unlike he did with the movie "The Town. Affleck also directed his brother in "Gone Baby Gone". Both movies received critical acclaim and Affleck’s "Argo" will most certainly follow suit. The authenticity of the film is to be heralded. Affleck, in order to achieve the look on screen that a 1979 incident would look like, Affleck shot the movie on old film and zoomed in on the reel in order to increase the graininess. With the costuming, settings and recreations of the Iranian revolution, Affleck may have achieving the most amazing effect of his career. It takes you back to that time, whether you remember it or not.
Unfortunately, in order to ramp up the tension and drama, Affleck resorted to some typical old Hollywood gimmicks that seemed odd in a historical reenactment. Whether or not Jimmy Carter and the officials stateside reissued the tickets at the last second, as depicted in the film, I don’t know, but it sure seemed contrived. This wasn’t the only one either. In fact, it happened multiple times. Phones ringing and if that person doesn’t answer, the entire operation is dead, but their held up by a studio lot film shoot and don’t know the phone is ringing. All was there to ramp up the tension and I guess it worked because the movie worked.
"Argo" is not a nail biter grit your teeth suspense movie as some have promoted. Had the dangerousness of the Iranian guards been ramped up a bit more, maybe it would have been. Although, you are aware of what they’re facing just because we’re living it in our current life, but I think the film was too soft on ramping this up, possibly not to offend a culture that doesn’t like being offended. The movie is though, an incredibly authentic look into a part of history that remained untold until 1996 and untold widely until now.
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