A well made if somewhat fictional version of real events - but hey this is cinema!

Rating: 8/10 (15 November 2012)

When the idea for 'Argo' was presented by Affleck and his team, I am sure some Producer somewhere around the table probably said something along the lines of 'Hey wasn't there already a movie made about this subject?' and the reply was probably 'Yeah, but no one will ever remember that version!' I do remember it,(Escape from Iran: The Canadian Caper) as a kid, sitting down to watch what I thought was going to be an action picture and as it turned out, was one of my first intelligent and well made feature film experiences as a young viewer, and I remember it vividly, so seeing this much larger budget version brought back pleasant trips down my movie memory lane.
Focusing on the true events of the undercover operation to rescue six American staff who escaped the clutches of the Iranian authorities when their Embassy fell in Tehran in 1980, this is essentially a spy thriller with a healthy dose of comedy provided by the Hollywood angle. The plan, devised by CIA fix it man, Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) is to get them all out disguised as a Canadian film crew for the Sci-Fi blockbuster, Argo which is to be fronted by a Hollywood Producer (Alan Arkin, getting all the best lines) and his FX Cohort, John Chambers (John Goodman) The six staff are under some considerable stress having been couped up for 79 days and tensions rise when the audacity of the plan is revealed to them. The people back home get nervous, the operation is nearly cancelled, but if you've read your history you will know how it all ends.
Its hard to find fault in the movie. The production design, tone and colours brilliantly capture the period, the performances are all really solid, Affleck has really matured as an actor, and anchors the film with a perfect pitch understated performance and his direction also hits the mark. Arkin and Goodman make a suitably humorous duo 'If it has horses in it, its a Western!' but the real applause must go to the six actors playing the Embassy escapee's, who created believable characters and tensions with the small amount of well crafted scenes that they are given. Scoot McNairy proving his metal as a name soon to join the top ranks in Hollywood, and Rory Cochrane, Tate Donovan, Christopher Denham, Kerry Bishe and the always consistent Clea Duvall all hold their own nicely in the ensemble scenes where their performances lend gravitas to the realism of the dilemma their real life counterparts were facing.
This has 'Nicely packaged for the Oscars' written all over it just a bit too much though, so much so, I could count the nominations as the film rolled along, not that this is a bad thing (I am sure Affleck won't mind) The film does stray a little into the realms of fantasy with dramatic scenes of the bad guys in pursuit where the reality is they were never really that close, and Mendez appears to be white, where he looked more black/Hispanic in real life but of course who ever accused reality of making great cinema? These are understandable changes and a little dramatic license works well to ratch up tension in the final twenty minutes from not a great deal of real drama. Affleck could of perhaps given over the role to someone who actually was the same race as Mendez as there are no shortage of good actors out there, but I guess this project was his baby and as I know all too well, it may well have been his decision to play the pivotal role that got the film the green light in the first place though having George Clooney as a producer probably helped.
As Arkin says, if I am going to make a fake movie, then it is going to be a fake hit - So here, this slightly fictional version of the events will almost certainly be a hit with audiences and award ceremonies alike and to be fair to Affleck and the team, it is well deserved. Now, when will we see a good film about the failed rescue attempt?