Genius

Rating: 9/10 (30 November 2012)

'Argo' is a fantastic film directed by Ben Affleck. It tells the story of six US embassy workers who managed to escape shortly before the 1980 Iranian US embassy hostage crisis. The six people find refuge in the Canadian embassy but it is only a matter of time until the hostage takers find out they're missing.
I have a massive amount of respect for Ben Affleck after seeing this film. It is brilliant and arguably one of the best films of 2012. The script and dialogue are fantastic; the film moves at a realistic pace (not to quick and not too slow) it builds momentum and the last hour is fantastic and is more like a fictional action film. The dialogue is funny, realistic and descriptive but the actors should be given just as much credit for this as the script writers.
Ben Affleck, as well as directing, takes the lead role as a member of the CIA whose task it is to try and get the hostages out of Iran with no problems. It is his idea to create a fake film to get the hostages out. Affleck's performance is good but not too over the top to overshadow other performances. He gives a realistic performance here and has clearly researched his character. Bryan Cranston does not have a huge role here but he is great; he provides a lot of great scenes with his wise-cracking, funny character. I really liked him in this and I'm glad to see he is getting more mainstream work. Scott McNairy is great here; since seeing him in 'Killing Them Softly' I have looked forward to his future career and this is a good follow up. His character is completely different but he tackles it with great confidence and is convincing. I look forward to seeing where his career takes him next.
Overall, I loved this film. It is a great, high quality film for modern history fans and even action fans to an extent (if you liked the Hurt Locker you might find this enjoyable). This is a fantastic film and I hope it gets some award recognition in 2013.