Argo-meaning:A large southern constellation (the ship Argo).

Rating: 7/10 (26 March 2013)

Picking up an old,dusty edition of the UK movie magazine Empire a few months ago,I noticed a huge article about the CIA making a non-existent film!.Being amazed at this near "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" real life event,I was very pleased to hear that the subject was being bought to the big screen.
With the now Oscar winning film having not come out in any cinema near me,and the film studio sadly deciding to keep the extended cut and docs about the real life events exclusive to the Blu-Ray edition,I decided to take a look at a UK auction website,where after a surprisingly short bidding war I was able to get hold of the DVD at a very good price,which led to me getting ready to see the making of,perhaps the most important non-existent movie ever made.
The plot:
1979-
Getting caught right in the centre of the unfolding Iran Revolution,a United States embassy in Tehran is taking over by militants who want to oust Mohammed Reza Pahlavi (who was brought into power by a coup d'Etat organised by the US and UK to topple the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh) and replace him with an Ayatollah called Ruhollah Khomeini.As the militants start to gather the staff of the embassy for hostage usage,six US embassy staff initiate a stealth escape and head to the near by house of Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor.
Fearful that the location of the six US embassy staff could be discovered by the Iranian's at any time,Taylor and the staff contact the CIA,who tell them that they will keep their location from being exposed by the press,and also that they will do everything can,to safely free them from Iran.Desperate to find them all a safe escape route,the US State Department struggles to find a safe extraction route,due to the revolutionary Iranian's having taken control of all of the boarders,and also not being too keen on American's,due to their role in bringing Pahlavi to power.
Talking to his son on the phone, (who is living with his separated wife) CIA technical operations officer Tony Mendez decides to hold a "joint viewing" by putting the TV on the channel that his son is watching,which is currently playing a film called Battle For The Planet of the Apes.
Losing focus on the conversation that he is having with his son,Mendez begins to pay attention to the strange location that the Sci-Fi film is taking place,that leads Mendez to begin to wonder,if the 6 embassy staff could be safely freed from Iran if they are given the cover story that they are the film crew of a none-existent Sci-fi movie,whose filming location,happens to be Iran.
View on the film:
Condensing the near 3-month time period that the "Canadian Caper" part of the Iran hostage crisis took place,the screenplay by Chris Terrio squeezes the events into a swift 2 hour running time,that despite already knowing how things would end,led to me being right on the edge of my seat for every tense twist and turn of this fabulous historical Thriller.
Smartly keeping away from any technobabble,Terrio keeps the six embassy staff members confined to the home of Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor for 90% of the movie,which along with allowing for the wide gap between the various agency's and the staff caught right at the centre of the unfolding revolution to be shown,also allows Terrio to give the movie a nerve-wrecking atmosphere,with each time that someone walks past or gets near the building,being a moment where the location of the staff could be uncovered.
Firmly placing the films heart in the 70's right from the start with the classy use of the Warner Bros logo of the 1970's,lead actor/director Ben Affleck closely works with cinematography Rodrigo Prieto to give the very realistic scenes of a revolution sprawling across the streets of Iran a rough,documentary like clarity that puts the audience right in the middle of the heroic scenes taking place.Showing the increased frightening atmosphere that is entering the office's of the CIA and the ambassadors house,Affleck and Prieto give the "in house" scenes a fantastic granny appearance,which along with emphasising an increasing mood that Mendez is clutching at straws for his plan to work.
Peeling away the paint-like Hollywood glamour,Affleck shows Hollywood to be a place that is literal falling apart from the rickety,badly panted sets,to the "Hollywood" sign itself crumbling!.Contrasting the outer appearance of Hollywood,Affleck shows that buried deep behind the fading starts lay master craftsmen such as make-up artist John Chambers, (played by an extremely charismatic John Goodman) who with his expert skills and charm may be able to make this fake movie,a very special "box office hit".