ARGO

ARGO

GRADE: A+

Reviewed by Paul Gibbs

Okay, seriously: Forget about Gigli, Pearl Harbor, Daredevil, etc. Anybody who is still thinking of Ben Affleck as the early 2000s star of bad movies is missing out on the evolution of one of the great filmmakers of his generation. And Argo is his most accomplished film yet, the one where he moves definitively out of the “It’s looking like he’s turning out to be a good director” category into just plain being a terrific director.

            In 1979,  the American Embassy in Iran was overrun, leading  to one of the biggest hostage crises in history. Six people escaped the embassy and managed to hide out in the home of the Canadian ambassador. CIA exfiltration expert Tony Mendez hatched a plan to get them out of Iran, using a non-existent sci-fi movie called Argo as his cover. Affleck and screenwriter Chris Terrio have fashioned this story into an exceptionally compelling  and often uproariously funny thriller. Aside  from directing, Affleck gives a solid leading man turn as Mendez (fudging the characters ethnicity a bit in order to accommodate casting himself) and he is surrounded by an excellent supporting cast. Bryan Cranston, as another CIA agent, is finally given a chance to play a big screen role that doesn’t seem like a waste of his immense talent, and John Goodman, as a Hollywood make-up artist, is excellent as always. But it’s Alan Arkin as a cynical movie producer who steals every scene he’s in, making Terrio’s already witty dialogue infinitely funnier with his flawless delivery.

But the real star is Affleck the director, who creates a sense of tension and excitement that keeps the viewer riveted from the first scene to the last. Affleck has cited the great films of the 1970’s as an influence, in particular the work of director Sidney Lumet, and it’s easy to see that in the fly-on-the-wall style of the film, which recalls Lumet’s classic Dog Day Afternoon.  The film also recalls Ron Howard’s Apollo 13, in the sense of being an edge of your seat thriller despite the fact that we already know how it ends. Several sequences are likely to become thought of as classics. Affleck and his design team have also paid a great deal of attention to the look and feel of 1970’s sci-fi, both in creating the look of the fake Argo and Mednez’ son Ian’s sci-fi memorabilia, which helps inspire the idea. Screenwriter Terrio also very nicely explains the nature of the specific conflict with Iran, giving us a clear idea of why this is taking place but avoiding getting excessively political.

Hollywood rarely seems to make sophisticated “grown up” movies these days, because, frankly, there’s no money it. Argo is a gigantic step in a positive direction, and is almost certain to be one of the very best films of 2012.  However much you may dislike Affleck from his “Bennifer” days, give it a chance. Not because he needs it (he doesn’t). Because if you like quality cinema, you do.

Argo is rated R for violence and profanity.