Oscar Watch: "Argo"

Argo is a film detailing a formerly classified CIA mission to extract hostages from Iran during the Iranian Hostage Crisis in the early 1980s. The interesting part of this extraction was that, given the difficulty in other means of cover stories, the best bad story they concocted was that the hostages were a film crew shooting a sci-if Star Wars rip-off called Argo in Iran. Mendez, portrayed by Ben Affleck, was in charge of the operation, and had to go to Hollywood to form this fake movie, getting a producer, press release, and even an article in Variety. Then, he went to Iran to save the hostages, consisting of two married couples and another guy. They each had cover stories, and despite some mishaps along the way, they got home safe.

It was a riveting story. Ben Affleck did a solid job directing it, capturing what I imagine is the feeling of being a hostage in a foreign country. The scene where the Iranian officers pretend to execute the captured hostages was especially tense. I felt he captured the right tone, and had the actors convey the right amount if fear and anxiety going into the mission. Even though many know that the mission succeeded, the actors are so convincing in their hesitation and fear, you forget what the outcome really is. One of the best scenes is during the interrogation, when they really sell the cover story to the interrogating cops, Threepio-style sound effects and all. It's also cool that his son indirectly gave him the idea for the cover story, via watching Battle for the Planet of the Apes.

Overall, solid acting. Good humor, particularly from John Goodman and Alan Arkin as the Hollywood contacts. And a strong job by Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston, whom I didn't even recognize for most of the film. Solid, enjoyable, well-made film. I won't be surprised if it garners some oscars this year.


 

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