Affleck continues his good form

Rating: 8/10 (13 February 2013)

The television show 'Family Guy' once made a joke inferring Matt Damon did all the work towards 'Good Will Hunting' and Ben Affleck did none of it. With Argo, Affleck proves (if he hadn't already with the likes of 'The Town' and 'Gone Baby Gone') that he's actually very switched on indeed as to what makes for a good film. He has received seven very well deserved Academy Award nominations for Argo, and only time will tell how many of those it wins, but at this stage it is odds on to win Best Picture.
Argo is set in revolutionary Iran, 1980. It follows a secret operation to extract six fugitive American diplomatic personnel out of Iran led by Affleck's character Tony Mendez. It is based on a true story. Affleck gets the feel of the 80s and the location just right. The story flows exceptionally well and has the audience captivated throughout. The final 20 minutes or so are incredibly tense and brilliantly filmed. The editing is as sharp as you could ever hope for.
The amazing story always takes precedence and the actors are allowed to thrive amongst that. Affleck is commensurable with his usual performances and his laid back style fits in well here. But the star for me was Oscar nominated Alan Arkin. The man has an unbelievable amount of charm about him. It doesn't matter whether the joke he's telling is hysterical or a complete dud, he'll make it work. But he's not limited to telling jokes. You want him on your side, that much is for sure. Bryan Cranston is Hollywood's go to man at the moment. He can do no wrong, and Argo is no exception. Long may it continue because the man is an acting phenomenon and an Oscar nomination can't be far away for him. The rest of the cast support brilliantly and their Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture win at the Screen Actors Guild Awards was as deserved as you'll ever see.
Hollywood and The Academy love a film about a film, as seen last year with both 'Hugo' and 'The Artist'. And while Argo doesn't do this anywhere near the extent those two films did, I still think it'll be enough to win the Best Picture award. Naming the film 'Argo' (the title of film within a film in the movie) is rubbing this in everyone's faces a little for my liking, because it doesn't actually have that much to do with the story, but this is forgivable because it could be said this was a centerpiece for the events in the story. Don't get me wrong, it'll win it for a lot more reasons than this (most are mentioned above), but this will be the clincher. Argo is what I would call a solid film. It tells its story in a very neat and polished way, which is a good thing. Affleck can feel robbed of a Best Director nomination in my opinion, but I'm sure he'll be satisfied with the success it has had throughout award season.