Spoilers ahoy
Short version: yes, it’s good, go see it
Long version:
I’d say that my 20th century history isn’t great. I’m pretty good on Australian stuff and some select others, but I’m no historian. So I approached Argo without a great deal of foreknowledge: I know that shit hit the fan in 1979 and that that’s the source of a lot of the Iranian troubles America has today. So a film that tells a story central to the cultural revolution is very fresh to me.
The basic setup is this: when the American embassy is sacked by an Iranian mob, six staff members escape through a back door and hole up at the Canadian ambassador’s house. While the rest of the embassy staff is held hostage, the Canadians get more and more anxious and their position in the country more and more untenable until they tell the US to get their house guests out.
The CIA, after floating a number of terrible plans, come up with the best terrible plan they can- send in an exfiltration specialist (Ben Affleck, in an authentic 70s beard) as a film producer looking to shoot a film in the country, and bring the house guests out as his crew. (This is basically the trailer, so don’t worry too much yet)
I’ve not seen Affleck’s other directorial work- I’m told The Town is quite good- but I was super impressed at the way this is shot. The film mixes a number of archival TV clips and films in montages to give the film context, and they establish the stakes and the paranoia very well. I had no trouble believing the film was shot in Iran (a quick Google tells me it was actually shot in Turkey) and the scenes of chaotic protest and violence also give the film a strong atmosphere and background. In contrast to a lot of modern films, it’s little slower paced, which I think makes the payoffs and releases of tension better.
The cast is very good for their roles- John Goodman and Alan Larkin show up as two Hollywood insiders helping build the film’s cover story, and Bryan Cranston plays a commanding agent in the CIA (although he doesn’t get to really show his acting chops). The house guests are played by relative unknowns (at least to me) but their stress and camaraderie were very believable. Other supporting characters, like the Canadian ambassador and his wife, are also well cast. Affleck’s also pretty good, although he’s pretty reserved for a lot of the film.
The Hollywood scenes, actually, are a lot of fun- along with some standard digs at Hollywood falseness, it’s a reminder of how many shitty Star Wars knockoffs were filmed in the late 70s and the terrible, terrible costumes they had. The colourful cinematography also gives the film a late 70s vibe.
If I had to criticise the film, it kinda glosses over the other diplomatic activities that were going on at the time, and I feel the Canadians probably played a bigger role in the whole thing. There’s also some bog-standard CIA politicking, with the usual last minute stops on operations and agents going rogue. It’s not insurmountable, just kinda unnecessary.
So in summary, Argo is a very good thriller. The exotic setting and the sheer audacity and difficulty of pulling off the plot really gives a palpable sense of closeness and threat to the film. The fact that it’s based on a true story makes it even more thrilling.
Skepticism and Dice 