Not too many years ago, the name of actor/director/writer Ben
Affleck was used as a punch-line around America’s collective water-cooler. Not
too long before that, he was unavoidable, occupying the leading man position in
practically every major film for over 2 years. Just before that, he and Matt
Damon, his blonde fellow Bostonian, won an Oscar for best original screenplay,
both of them being the youngest winners for that particular award. Now, after
three fantastic films—reminiscent of the work made in Clint Eastwood’s
directorial heyday—he has become one of the most promising working directors in
Hollywood, not far from winning another Oscar for his behind-the-camera work.
This
time around, Affleck decides to broaden his scope from gritty crime thrillers
like “The Town” and his first feature “Gone Baby Gone”, to a true tale of
political espionage and diplomatic upheaval in our recent governmental history. “Argo” deals with the events of a group of
six American ambassadors who were held captive in Iran after revolutionaries
found out that our government was protecting one of their worst dictators who
was undergoing cancer treatment in the United States. While nobody in the CIA
can seem to find a way to discreetly penetrate their territory and bring home
the American’s citizens, Tony Mendez, played by Ben Affleck, hatches a plan to
disguise the captives as a Canadian film crew making a B-science-fiction, “Star
Wars” knock off called “Argo”. In order to make the plan convincing, they have
to set up believable pre-production hype in Hollywood. In doing so, they bring on
board award-winning makeup artist John Chambers (John Goodman) and
producer/shyster extraordinaire Lester Siegel ( Alan Arkin).
“Argo” is a subtly versatile film that plays a
difficult balancing act with tone. Much
of the film treats this historical news event with reverent realism, painstakingly
presenting the period production-design accurately, integrating grainy news
footage from the actual time. The other half of the movie is a sardonic examination
of the Hollywood system and the lying and swindling that goes into the
pre-production stages of filmmaking. The movie often intercuts between these
two situations, and surprisingly the shift from somber to satirical never seems
to grind or squeal on the movies tires. This alone shows the significant growth and
advancement of craft Affleck has made as a director. However, while his performance as the lead isn’t
distractingly bad, he doesn’t command too much attention either, especially
when he is constantly overshadowed by his wonderful cast of underappreciated
character actors like Bryan Cranston, Rory Cochrane, Clea DuVall, and Victor
Garber. Scenes involving these real
actors, playing non-actors, who have to try their hardest to be convincing
good-actors—or else they could be killed
at any moment—creates for nail-biting
moments of classic movie suspense.
If I were to find any fault in
“Argo” it is only that it rarely pushes past the point of being an entertaining
and confidently made film. Though I was completely satisfied with what I was
given, its highest peaks hint at a deeper level with greater stakes and a harder
biting indictment of the film industry. Also, after a lot build up leading up
to it, the climax seems to resolve itself a little too quickly. However, by the movie’s end, the emotional
payoff is effective and the final scenes left some in my audience in respectful
silence and others in exuberant applause.
With my reservations aside, this
movie will certainly be an awards contender this year. The political intrigue,
the procedural thrill, and the clever humor in “Argo” combine to keep the
audience invested in the multifaceted and stranger-than-fiction nature of its
plot.
Grade:B+
Originally published in the Idaho State Journal/Oct-2012
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