A mission as unbelievable as Ben Affleck's Oscar snub for its direction ...

Rating: 9/10 (5 February 2013)

An ingenious plan like in "The Sting", a hostile environment like in "Midnight Express", a gripping cat-and-mouse chase like in "The French Connection" and a life-and-death crisis like "Dog Day Afternoon", "Argo" borrows so many elements plot and style-wise from 70's classics, that for one second, I wondered if it wasn't from the same era it was grippingly depicting.
"Argo" is based on the 1979 Iran hostage crisis that hooked the American audience for more than a year and sealed the political fate of President Jimmy Carter, but while it takes places during the crisis, the plot focuses on the close escape of six American diplomats from the Iranian "devil's claw", thanks to a cover plan, meticulously crafted by Mendez (Ben Affleck), a CIA agent and expert in ex-filtration with the help of his best friend and colleague O'Donnell (Bryan Cranston). Ben Affleck stars as both the lead actor and the director of "Argo", which makes the mention of Warren Beatty in one of the film's funniest line, quite fitting. Indeed, with his black dark beard and eyes constantly full of angst and concentration, he reminded me of Warren Beatty in "Reds", the epic he both starred in and directed. Affleck, never too demonstrative or showy, displays the same level of maturity and technical realism that places him among the most actor-directors of his generation (or has he still something to prove?)
The main accomplishment of "Argo" is to be one of the most suspenseful thrillers of the last years, without exploiting the ordinary archetypes. No gun fights, no car chases, no explosions, the film is structured like a cat-and-mouse chase where each step is a life-and-death situation, and no mistake can be allowed. But let's get back to the 'plot'. The hostages' escape remained Top Secret until the case was finally declassified in 1997, and it's unbelievable that no director thought of adapting the story, if one thing, the material begs for a film. I don't want to reveal much of "Argo"'s plot » because I suspect it would spoil a significant part of the enjoyment, which is the elaboration and the application of a clever plan: simulating the making of a film like "Battle of the Planet of the Apes" set in an exotic location.
With the help of John Chambers, an award-winning make-up artist, played by John Goodman and Lester Siegel, a producer, played by a scene-stealing Alan Arkin, Mendez understands the necessity of not omitting any single detail, everything must sound plausible. The film must have a script, a producer, and publicity, like an article in "Variety", all precautions that would reveal to be determinant. This is where the real delights of "Argo" are: once you get deeper in the plan, the film takes off to a series of disguises and manipulations punctuated by the project's catchphrase: « Argo F-yourself ».
The film blends many elements of drama and comedy but never distracting from the spellbinding suspense. The tension remains intact because at any moment, the plan can either fail or be canceled. One IMDb user complained about the predictability of the ending that ruined all the suspense, but we know the film wouldn't have been made if the plan had failed, so, it's all in the how that our hearts are hanging. On that level, suspense, action, the film has nothing to envy to today's overly spectacular and noisy actions films. "Argo" is a captivating thriller, absorbing you at each step of the escape, from the Canadian embassy to a local bazaar and pinnacling in an airport where you could feel the same tension than Billy Hayes in "Midnight Express".
And the reason I mentioned Parker's film is to tunnel the review toward the only seemingly flaw or invitation for criticism, which is the relatively unflattering portrayal of most Iranian people, as a cruel and angry-driven mob or easily fooled people in the best case. Granted the timing of the film isn't the most inspired with the whole accusations pointed against the Persian state, and the way it kind of damages the positive effect, last year's Oscar-winning "A Separation" had on the perception of Iran.
But I'm inclined to give "Argo" the benefit of doubt, for simple reasons. The film doesn't make big heroes out of the main protagonists, they are only trapped people trying to save their skins. The religious fervor and violence displayed can be associated with the troubled times induced by the Iranian revolution and the hostility toward the United States. Besides, the film is obviously told from the US perspective, so we can't deny that there were facing some hostility because of the US political choices, but this hostility is handled with the same realism than Gavras' "Missing", a whole country can have a nightmarish feel, but it trusts the viewer's intelligence, to put the film in its context.
And like in "Missing", in the same degree of partiality, America isn't spared from criticism, since some political involvements are discussed, and subtly denouncement like the opening monologue that established the role of the United States in the coup d'état that installed the Shah as a puppet leader. "Argo" is intelligent enough to make us close our eyes on some negative portrayals, quite insignificant. On the whole, it's a plot-driven film rather than a character study, which should be watched for the thrills, the suspense, and a sort of educational value, to know how to deal in time of crisis, and realize that sometimes, the craziest plans are the most successful. As O'Donnell says "this is the best bad plan we have".
What else to say? Well, "Argo" is a splendid achievement on the field of film-making, definitely one of the year's best if only for the scene when an agent talks Sci-Fi film with an Iranian civil servant, you wouldn't believe it happened? Hell, since Ben Affleck was spared a Best Director Oscar nomination, anything can happen.