As though his first two features Gone,
Baby, Gone and The Town weren't proof enough, Argo
provides further evidence of Ben Affleck's continued maturation as a
skillful, no-nonsense director. Falling into the unimpeachable
category of “a good story, well told”, Argo is a near perfect
Hollywood dramatization of a true story, deftly balancing tight
thrills, human drama, and comic relief within a hugely entertaining
and satisfying picture.
Starting off with a very brief history
of Iran's political turmoil in the mid-to-late 70s, Affleck proceeds
to drop us into a riveting opening sequence of a civilian mob
storming the American embassy, brilliantly splicing together archived news
footage with meticulously recreated shots (this scene alone is enough
to justify William Goldenberg walking away with next year's Oscar for
Best Film Editing). Intent on taking hostages so that the U.S. will
relinquish the detested Shah who is being harboured stateside, the
revolutionaries capture all but six embassy employees, who slip out
the back and seek shelter at the house of the Canadian ambassador
(Victor Garber). To prevent the unaccounted-for six from being hunted
down and executed as spies, the CIA rushes to enact and escape plan.
Dissatisfied with his colleagues' suggestions, special agent Tony
Mendez (Affleck) comes up with an unlikely strategy to smuggle out
the fugitives; as a Canadian film crew on a location scout for a
sci-fi movie.
