Appreciate the genre

Rating: 9/10 (2 April 2013)

I think the main reason for most of the negative reviews on here is that those people were probably expecting explosions and stuff like that. After all, it is a film about a CIA operative extracting six fugitives from Iran. However, this film does not include explosions, or gunfights, or any James Bond stunts.
If you're looking for a film like that, walk away now. What this film is a tension filled political thriller, and a bloody good one at that. Some people in the UK have given this bad reviews plainly because they were not credited. Yes, the British Embassy sheltered the fugitives for a few days before agreeing they would be safer in the Canadian Embassy, but so what? I'm a British citizen and I couldn't care less about our absence in the movie. If the director wants to go the extra mile and add a pointless half an hour on the movie, let him, but Ben Affleck pulled this off with flying colours.
Speaking of Affleck, I've never really been a huge fan, but he is phenomenal in this movie. He does a great job as a director and an even better job as Tony Mendez. The only complaint is there wasn't enough of a backstory, he talks on the phone to his kid near the beginning but they weren't very believable as father and son. For me though, Alan Arkin and John Goodman make the movie. They supply the comedy to the movie while Affleck does the drama. Also, Bryan Cranston didn't have a big enough part, hes a great actor but he didn't get chance to show it in this film.
Overall, this is a mature spy thriller, with an exceptional cast, and *very* believable characters. On a side note, the sound track fits perfectly and Lora Kennedy (Casting Director) definitely, without a doubt, picked the right people for this movie. Ignore the negative reviews and watch this, because this is one of those films people will be talking about for a while.