Intense

Rating: 6/10 (5 December 2012)

Against the backdrop of extreme anti-Americanism in Iran due to its support for the Shah, six American citizens manage to escape the American embassy and take refuge in the home of the Canadian Ambassador. The problem is that they cannot remain there for very long as eventually their identities will be revealed and they will be captured and possibly killed. So a plan is devised to send in a C.I.A. operative named "Tony Mendez" (Ben Affleck) under the guise of a movie producer to attempt to take them out as part of the film crew. But before that can happen he has to get cooperation from some people in Hollywood to lay the groundwork for an actual movie in order to fool Iranian intelligence. At any rate, what I liked about this film is that it captures the intense anger the Iranian people had during this time without involving Islam as the main culprit. No doubt some used it as a conduit to gain political leverage and they are still doing it now. But it was the Shah--and our support for him--that was the catalyst. Even so, because of its strict religious leadership and the hatred they have for the West, I doubt that the current regime in Iran will allow its people to watch it. But that's another story entirely. Be that as it may, I enjoyed this movie and would recommend it to those who also like political dramas of this type.