ArGo Look Yourself

Rating: 7/10 (30 November 2012)

Being consumed by film marketing in the 21st century western world is almost an unavoidable right of passage for any owner of modern technology or in fact anyone who has ever been outdoors. As I do, and have, I was given great expectations for Argo that were not quite fulfilled to the capacity I had hoped.
Despite my slight sense of disappointment, Argo is a splendid piece of work by director/producer/actor Ben Affleck. It is essentially a film about film, the latter not really being a film. Confused? Well you shouldn't be, the premise is rather straightforward and enlightens its younger audience (including myself) on the historical conflict between Iran and the United States of America in 1979. The non-fictional reality of the declassified event that occurred 32 years ago, while presumably slightly sensationalised for cinematic purposes, is rather inconceivable. While thoroughly engaged in the atmosphere the film creates, you continuously ask yourself if this genuinely happened. Knowing that it did is perplexing at a severe magnitude.
In all honesty, Argo fails to really grasp the undivided attention of the audience until the final 30 minutes of the picture, though you appreciate the reservation of the best until last. It is as if you have been presented with a plate of food; knowing you must eat it all, you start on the vegetables to get them out of the way, then consume the adequate yet necessary side dish, before being enriched by the most prominent presence on the plate; it has the ability to satisfy the taste buds in every way possible, or cause a look of disgust and sickness dependant on its quality. Argo consists of the former of the two, as everything nearing the climactic resolution leaves you involuntarily paralysed in your seat as you await the next revelation or obstacle for the characters to endure. The tension that the feature generates results in gasps being heard around the theatre as the unpredictable nature of the characters' actions are unveiled.
Whenever we relocate to scenes of lesser tension, we are more often than not gifted with tremendously suitable comic relief. Its situation in the narrative is not just present for entertainment purposes, it also facilitates in allowing us to feel as though we are experiencing the characters' endeavours. This is because the humour makes the best out of a bad situation for those that have been affected by the events at the start of the film. Everyone must keep their composure in order to get the job done, and the comedy is used to simply give the characters something to smile about and as a coping strategy, as when they feel this, it synchronises audience's emotions.
The first 90 minutes of Argo is albeit very slow, though quite necessary to give us enough fuel to make it to the phenomenal conclusion. This also provides the biographic thriller with a pleasant structure, as no sequences are prolonged or too short and it builds itself up to behave like an amalgamation of necessary processes in order to achieve the goal the CIA have set out to do. The Oscar 'buzz' surrounding Argo are not feelings that I personally reciprocate due to the fact I did not feel absolutely immersed in the cinema screen throughout the showing, yet more so at specific moments, and also because it really does take some time for the picture to gain momentum, which is really the precautionary point the film conveys, but it just is not that engaging. This is one of those films whereby you are very glad you watched it; though do not feel that it requires you to sit through it another time.