Mostly true, with some fictional elements, " based on a true story."

Rating: Null/10 (21 March 2013)

The movie has an excellent opening scene, basically summarizing the history of Iran, formerly Persia, over the past 2500 or so years. In modern times, starting around 1950, gradual "western" elements in Iran were objectionable, until in the 1970s real hatred of the USA came on full-force when the Shah was given refuge.
This story starts in 1979 when angry Iranians stormed the US Embassy and took prisoners. Six of the Americans managed to sneak out into the streets and sought refuge with the British and Canadians. The story told here focuses on their being given refuge by the Canadians.
Back home members of the government, including the CIA, brainstorm on how to get the six out of Iran to safety. Ben Affleck is Tony Mendez (real person) who calls himself an Exfil. We looked it up and it is short for "exfiltration", the opposite of "infiltration." One evening while talking to his son by phone, and watching one of the "Planet of the Apes" movies, Tony has a brainstorm, maybe he can go into Iran posing as a filmmaker scouting locations, then represent the six captives as members of his scouting team, then get them out of the country with fake passports and a fake movie script, complete with storyboards.
Since it is "based" on the real events and not a "documentary", invariably some things are presented to increase the excitement. Like the last-second approval for tickets to get home, or the dramatic chase of the 747 on the runway during takeoff. But the overall story is faithful, and the whole movie illustrates the vast divide between western values and those of culture with ancient roots, like the Iranians.
The actors are all first-rate, and it was fun to see Bryan Cranston as one of the Washington operatives, after getting to know him so well in his role as Walter White in "Breaking Bad."
Overall a very entertaining movie, we all enjoyed it. We didn't worry at all that some of it is fiction, it's movie-making after all!