Insufferably insipid

Rating: 2/10 (19 March 2014)

Aside from the distortion of actual history discussed in most reviews below, this was simply a boring, hamfisted attempt to make a thriller -- a series of stock scenes and hackneyed plot devices strung together with no inspiration. The acting is mostly excruciating, and even the music selection over some of the non-speaking sequences was incredibly stupid and jarring.
Watching Ben Affleck in every scene is a surefire cure for insomnia -- the dullest actor in the history of film! When a balsa-wood mannequin directs himself and others, you get a run-of-the- mill made-for-TV movie glorified only by the appeal to America jingoism.
That this stinker was even nominated, let alone won Best Picture over Lincoln -- the worst Oscar decision since the forgettable Kramer vs. Kramer beat the timeless classic Apocalypse Now -- is due to Hollywood's narcissism -- two tinsel-town moguls concoct a fake movie to heroically save our boys and girls in Iran!