Review of Argo (2012) by Preston L — 22 Sep 2015

Argo is based on a real events. In 1979 after being outraged by action of Jimmy Carter, Iranian activists storm the U.S. embassy in Iran and take over 50 American's hostage. 6 escape and are placed in hiding in the home of the Canadian ambassador. Back in the U.S. the CIA come up with a plot to rescue them by posing as Canadian movie studio executives, lead by Tony Mendez (Affleck), scouting locations for an upcoming science fiction film called Argo.

Things I Liked:

John Goodman and Alan Arkin. Goodman and Arkin play the studio heads who assist the CIA. They do something really great in this film by adding an air of comedy to the film. They have their moments of great dramatic tension too but they also play a very realistic sense of using humor to defuse tension. The moments seem very natural and the chemistry between the pair is highly memorable.

The Tone. This movie is tense! There is this constant anxiety that comes from wondering if these people are going to get out alive and it lingers from nearly the start of the film almost all the way through to the finale. You are on the edge of your seat and there are no moments of action either. No gun fights, no war scenes, no chases, just people interacting with each other, and the way Affleck captured that was done in such a way that you felt every tense moment tenfold.

Things I Didn't Like:

The Pace. Movie is a bit slow. It does so to build tension but there are moments that feel like they could have been removed and nothing would have been lost. The movie has an interesting story and developed characters and even if the tension keeps building throughout the movie, it can get bogged down by taking too much time to stretch those feelings out. There are other ways to do tension building besides leading minor plot points to dead ends and conclusions that don't completely resolve.

Overall. Overall, the movie is a major success. The characters are all interesting and diverse. The tone is an amazing blend of pure tension with speckles of humor. The plot is interesting and the movie grabs you right from the start and doesn't let you go until it is over. The movie has a few moments that seem like they could have done without, but this is a minor issue in my opinion and overall the movie is a great work that really marked a turning point in Ben Affleck's career.