Excellent dramatization of history that just misses its full potential

Rating: 7/10 (21 October 2012)

This is Ben's finest moment in Cinema!
The movie flows very well, and keeps you at the edge of your seat. Even though this is a historical tale, the suspense leaves you with the feeling of the unknown as if you do not know the outcome. Ben's cool and confident approach brings life to his CIA role that goes against the Bond-style spy that is usually portrayed on the big screen. The movie will tell you an you-can't-make-this-stuff-up story that centers on audacity and courage of the CIA and the American staff that is rescued, but it misses its full potential by not fully developing the six Americans who the story centers around.
The story starts off in the Tehran Embassy and flashes between news footage and the acts the staff took, such as burning and shredding documents. Six members of the staff decide to escape out the back door with Iranians who happened to be applying for their visas. They make it to the Canadian ambassador's house, where they stay until they are rescued.
The movie then turns stateside, where the CIA plan goes into motion. This is a pivotal change in the film's focus, and I believe the film missed a golden opportunity to connect the six Americans with the viewers. Instead of building up the characters that are to be rescued, the film focuses its character development of the CIA agent and the Hollywood partners that help pull off the rescue. While this does not destroy the movie, since Ben Affleck, Alan Arkin, and John Goodman pull off their roles flawlessly, the Americans the movie centers around are left somewhat empty and hollow. By the time the rescue goes into motion, you are only connected with the married couple who received the most character development out of the entire lot of victims. This leaves a huge gap during the suspense scenes, as it is hard to connect empathically with the victims. For example, one of the most suspenseful scenes occurred when Ben drove the Americans to the airport. They had to pass through a mob of Iranian protesters. This was an extremely tense situation, but the focus was mostly on Ben's character rather than the Americans who were literally scared to death. For Ben, however, this is just his job and you can feel his confidence and sense that he is in control of the situation. His command lets the viewer glide through the suspenseful scenes with a feeling of overconfidence, rather than seeing the scenes through the victim's perspective which undoubtedly would have left the viewer with a much more personal connection to the struggles the Americans endured.
Does this ruin the movie? No! This movie is a must see for anyone who loves American history, Spy Movies, or anything in the Suspense genre. Argo will take you for a nail-biting-fasten-your-seatbelt ride that will leave you in awe of the audacity and bravery of everyone involved. Be prepared to see this movie from the perspective of the Spy and his Hollywood Partners rather than through the perspective of the people being rescued.