Average movie with a great cast

Rating: 6/10 (3 December 2012)

I really love Ben Affleck as a director, as I do Clint Eastwood or pretty much anybody who is willing to make a movie that sticks to its guns, is honest and well constructed. This movie is all that, but I was never as intrigued as I was during The Town, nor was I not aware that my wine glass was slowly emptying. I was agitated and not that involved. I cared for some of the characters, but not all of them. I wanted an Oscar-potential movie like Munich, but I got a good solid family drama, although based on a true story, felt much more contrived. This is not a great movie, although it is good. Affleck takes on the lead man with ease, easily adapting himself into a look never seen before on him. The other actors are near perfect, reiterating that this is indeed a well made movie, but the way the movie plays out is much like an episode of the A Team or Macgyver where you know that the good guys will always come through, somehow. Not that I was routing for the bad guys, not that I don't realize that most movies are equally- contrived, but something about the story was missing, perhaps an insight into what makes the Iranians tick, so that my judgement from a viewer perspective does not remain completely abstract.