Affleck employs dramatic license to make CIA Iranian rescue operation more suspenseful than it actually was

Rating: 6/10 (2 January 2013)

I enjoyed 'Argo', but some people are talking this flick up as an Oscar winner for best picture. That I cannot see. However, it is definitely a story worth telling as it's a fascinating tale and reminds Americans about the dangers of a country like Iran.
Perhaps the most gripping part of the film is the opening, as the US embassy is about to be taken over by fanatical 'students' and supporters of the Ayatollah Khomeini, who just returned to Iran as a result of the 1979 revolution. Ben Affleck does a great job in chronicling how US embassy staff members went about shredding classified documents, minutes before the embassy compound is taken over by the fanatics. Equally fascinating is the way in which the six US staff members make their escape, as they simply walk out on to the street from an adjoining building, while the crazed Iranians are focusing on attacking the main part of the compound.
When I first heard about 'Argo', I thought the whole operation was much more extensive, involving a whole film crew entering Iran and actually beginning to film a phony movie there. It wasn't quite that complicated. CIA operative Tony Mendez's plan was simply to create the illusion that a movie was going to be made in Hollywood, by taking out an ad in a trade paper and holding a 'table read' of the script, which was covered by the press. Interestingly enough, the producer played by Alan Arkin is a fictional construct; only John Goodman's character, John Chambers, the Hollywood make-up artist, actually existed.
As the Argo story develops, with Mendez flying to Iran posing as a Canadian film producer and establishing contact with the Iranian film board, it all seemed quite plausible. And when Mendez takes the six members to a bazaar in the city, where their cover is almost blown when confronted by an angry crowd, that also seemed quite real. But when we finally arrive at the crucial scene, where the six must get past an Iranian ticket taker at the airport, without any proof that they actually came into the country, I wondered if that happened the way it's depicted in the film. It turns out that in reality, the Canadian ambassador's wife purchased three separate sets of tickets on three different airlines for the six embassy staff members.
Even more historically inaccurate is the suspenseful scene in the film, in which the Carter administration cancels the mission just as Mendez is about to attempt to whisk his charges out of Iran. In reality, the mission was canceled for only thirty minutes and that occurred BEFORE Mendez left the United States.
Finally, perhaps the most suspenseful part of the film, the confrontation with the Revolutionary guards at the departure gate, the call to Hollywood to confirm Mendez's cover and big chase out on the runway—none of that ever happened. Even without prior knowledge of the true history of the events depicted here, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that the chase on the runway was pure Hollywood.
Does Affleck's 'dramatic license', diminish the film's overall impact? Frankly, yes. Too much of what goes on, seems a bit far-fetched. Nonetheless, 'Argo' is still quite entertaining and is worth the price of admission. More credit should have gone to the Canadian ambassador Taylor, in his role in saving the US embassy staff members (the closing credits merely allude to the great co-operation between the US and Canada and say nothing specifically of Taylor's heroics).
Finally, I was most impressed by the casting choices for the six embassy staff members. The ID cards of the actual escapees are shown during the closing credits, juxtaposed with the actors playing them. Take a look at the resemblance between the real and the fictional characters. It's uncanny!