"Carter said you were a great American." ... "A great American what?"

Rating: 6/10 (27 February 2013)

Somewhat-overrated suspense film with 'colorful' Hollywood overtures involves Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez, real-life exfiltration specialist for the CIA whose bold plan in 1980 it was to get six Americans home from strife-ridden Iran, where they have been in-hiding since November 1979 when the U.S. Embassy was stormed by protesters over the CIA's involvement in Iranian politics. Mendez concocts a genuinely flamboyant plan--disguising the terrified group as Canadian filmmakers in the country to do pre-production work for a science-fiction film--but nothing about Affleck's leadweight performance suggests this kind of imaginative thinking. Affleck, who also co-produced and directed the film, does a good job at laying out the complicated scenario, however his button-pushing tactics at the final gate (leading to a nick-of-time climax) are a bit cheap. Audiences may feel the good will, and certainly the milieu is vividly captured. Alan Arkin, as a passed-his-prime movie producer, and John Goodman, as a Hollywood makeup artist, are both fine in support, though this section of the picture is undernourished. **1/2 from ****