Review of Argo (2012) by Mazen A — 22 Nov 2013

In the early days of the Iran Hostage crisis, six Americans in the Iranian Embassy manage to escape and make it to the Canadian Ambassador's house. CIA Operative Tony Mendez (Affleck) comes up with the only plan to get them out - go in as a Canadian filmmaker scouting locations for a B-movie, and take them out as a team.

Helping Mendez stateside are his dedicated teammate (Cranston), a gruff veteran producer (Arkin) and a cheerful makeup artist (Goodman), but once he's over in Iran, getting them out is not nearly as easy as it seems.

Affleck's winning streak as a director continues, armed with a stable of great performances, terrific dialogue, outstanding music cues (Van Halen's "Dance the Night Away" for the win), and the best late 70s period design since "Boogie Nights" - right down to the Warner Bros.

logo that opens the movie (a KILLER touch). Affleck's decision to underplay his role might not have been the direction I would have chosen, but by the third act it doesn't really matter - the last 30 minutes of the film are as tense as any I can remember, and by the end I realized I had just watched the year's best film, an easy contender for multiple Oscars.