Rating of
3.5/4
"Argo" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 03/20/13
A CIA hostage extraction specialist is called in to retrieve six US Embassy workers hiding out in the Canadian consulate in Iran after the civil uprising of 1979. Argo reminded me very much of The Bank Job, a British heist movie from a few years ago starring Jason Statham. They share a similar mix of humour, politics and history, done in a 70s thriller style format with a plots that seem extremely implausible and yet were based on actual events. Ben Affleck shows some excellent attention to detail in recreating not only the period during which they occurred, but the cultural and political climate and even casting actors who resemble their real life counterparts. The formula is almost a cross between Munich and Ocean's Eleven as the preposterous idea of faking a 70s sci-fi movie to smuggle out the would-be hostages leaves room for a lot of humour and the brilliant partnership of John Goodman and Alan Arkin is constantly laugh out loud funny. This light tone soon becomes darker as the real danger the six face becomes more and more apparent making for a nail biting finale as they attempt their escape. I also have to admire Affleck's candidness in describing the events which led to Iran's contempt for the west and once again his accomplished direction makes for a film that is consistently both entertaining AND intelligent.
