Affleck is now 3 for 3

Rating: 8/10 (6 December 2012)

A hostile nation is holding 52 members of the embassy staff hostage. While the majority of the State Department is focused on those hostages, six members of the embassy staff have sought refuge with the Canadian ambassador. How would you get them out? Could you get them out?
Thanks to the U.S. allowing their deposed leader to seek refuge in America, the Iranian people storm the American embassy on November 4, 1979. The staff is rushing to shred or burn all their confidential files. The majority of the staff are held hostage while a small percentage escape unnoticed. The State Department begins planning a rescue and asks the CIA to consult. It's abundantly clear to the Agency's "exfiltration" specialist, Tony Mendez (played by Ben Affleck), that the State Department is in over their heads. With such plans as having the embassy workers ride to the border disguised as teachers on bicycles in winter. It was back in his hotel watching Battle for the Planet of the Apes and talking to the son Ian (played by Aidan Sussman) that Tony (Affleck) has an idea. Disguise the hostages as a film crew and sneak them out right under the enemy's nose. After bringing the idea to his boss, Jack O'Donnell (played by Bryan Cranston) the plan gets the go-ahead. Later, they approach the make-up specialist who worked on The Planet of the Apes who has also done work for the Agency in the past, John Chambers (played by John Goodman). Chambers in turn introduces Mendez to a well-known producer named Lester Siegel (played by Alan Arkin). Once they've chosen a script, Argo, a science-fiction fantasy in the style of Star Wars, they go the extra mile in establishing it as a legitimate enterprise. Where it was simply a poster in the beginning, Siegel organizes a table-reading with known actors, press, and studio staff. While all this is going on, the Iranian government has sweatshop labor assembling the shredded photos so that they can identify anyone who they failed to capture. Also, our six escapees become increasingly fearful that they will be discovered.
I'm kind of a sucker for movies based on factual events, no matter how much the narrative diverges from history. A Beautiful Mind, The Insider, some that don't have Russell Crowe as the lead actor. That said, it doesn't guarantee I will like it. Case in point, I found J. Edgar unbelievably dissatisfying. Argo, on the other hand, is brilliant, in my opinion. The story is gripping, the comic relief is hilarious, and the suspense has me on the edge of my seat. As a lead actor, Affleck has had some notable flops. Gigli and Surviving Christmas among them. As the director of Gone Baby Gone, The Town, and now Argo, however, he is now three for three. You should definitely see this movie.