Rating of
4/4
Affleck's Argo blew me away!
Lee - wrote on 11/29/12
I had a feeling upon seeing the first trailer for Ben Affleck's 'Argo' mostly due to the story within as i remember as a child still to this day watching in anticipation to the news chanel as the 6 hostages were escaping the iron grip of the country Iran. I always new even back then even though at my age and still to this day the Star Wars movie was mostly in my thoughts , that the story of the escaping hostages would make one hell of a movie and thanks to Ben Affleck's directing abilities that far outshine his acting endeavours, we got a brilliantly executed story here, although with alot of historical inaccuracies, still kept close to what actually went on during that frantic time.
The Iranian hostage crisis took place from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981 444 days in total that ended up with then President Jimmy Carter not being voted in for yet another term in the oval office. The CIA upon hearing that the American embassy had been taken over immediatly spoke to their disguise and exfiltration expert Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) to figure out a way to get the '6' out of Iran and it's confines before being captured, which unfortuantly if happened, would've surely meant the execution of the 6 diplomats as we all know quite well that the United States government do not answer to threats of terrorism...Mendez comes upo with the idea of enlisting a top movie producer and director to fabricate the shooting of a new sci-fi film named Argo that would go head to head with the then debuting sci fi giant 'Star Wars' with principle filming to begin in the deserts of Iran, with the end result being safely and quickly getting the '6' out of country before the Iranian militia get hold of them first.
Apparently alot of people have voiced their displeasure, mostly Canadians, saying that the film and Affleck didn't show alot of Canada's participation in this secret mission, making it more of an american deal. Myself a Canadian didnt get bothered at all of this and actually thought that Affleck did a good job (sure their are some or should i say alot of liberties taken with this story, you know what though? It all = up to be a damn fine edge of your seat political thriller) and Canada got their dues in reality and not those that watched the events unfold on television during those 444 days know that the States were indeed greatful for Canada's particiaption through to the end. Take it for what it is folks, one of the best films that 2012 has to offer.
