A fine film

Rating: 9/10 (16 November 2012)

Following the overthrow of the Shah, Iranian students invaded the US Embassy in Teheran and held the staff hostage. 6 people escaped and took refuge in the Canadian Ambassador's residence, and the CIA mounted a covert rescue operation whereby the fugitives would be flown out in plain view, but in the guise of a unit carrying out pre-production work on potential Iranian locations for a Star Wars rip-off movie.
This film dramatises a true event and, if a little bit of research is to be believed, makes more of it than was actually the case. I don't mind that at all, because this is a fine film. The story is terrific, full of tension throughout, and the fact that these events of 30 years ago still reflect the current tensions in the Middle east mean that we can accept the oppressiveness, the peril, and the fear, as absolutely believable. This is one of the reasons why the film is so successful, the other is that everything is assembled perfectly. Ben Affleck as director has done a terrific job in making this film, and does just as well heading the cast. The rest of the cast are also excellent, and the images with the end titles show how well they captured the look of their real-life counterparts.
There is humour, as the trailer makes clear, but this is a tense drama even though you know the outcome from the start (and this is probably the film's greatest weakness: there are no surprises. This is far from being a deal breaker, though).
Highly recommended.