Review of Argo (2012) by Stephen Z — 06 Mar 2015

While the farfetched premise of "Argo" makes it seem like a work of fiction, this political thriller is, in fact, based on a true story, and quite an interesting one. An amazing story lost amongst the chaos of the Iranian hostage crisis, "Argo" tells the tale of an unorthodox joint operation between Canada and the CIA to rescue some would-be hostages.

The result is two hours of captivating narrative. "Argo" combines effective story-telling with bits of humor and satire. The ever-present suspense is excellent and very real. And Ben Affleck is fantastic, both as an actor and especially as a director. Some people might argue that directing a film based on a true story is easy, but under the wrong director these adaptions can go very badly. Ben Affleck is at the top of his game, and it shows.

"Argo" is a simply outstanding movie.