Argo comes on strong
In theaters Friday: Flight, The Man with the Iron Fists, Wreck-It Ralph
New on Blu-ray/DVD: The Campaign, Safety Not Guaranteed
“Trust me, this is the best worst idea we have,” Ben Affleck’s Tony Mendez tells the Secretary of Defense in the burgeoning director’s taught, nerves-frying political thriller Argo. And he means it. Posing six American diplomats as a Canadian film crew scouting locations for a cheesy Star Wars rip off in order to extract the group from a hostile, revolution-ravaged Iran sounds just as insane as any of the tripe that spills out of Hollywood’s mouth and into theaters, but truth is often stranger than fiction, and this is just what happened in 1980 as the world watched the hostage stand-off at the U.S. embassy in Tehran.
Now charging toward its third week at #1, Argo is Affleck’s best and largest-scaled film yet, and an essential historical drama that—though it does play fast and loose with some of the details—offers a modestly-focused and smartly constructed tale. While the six diplomats live as anxious Anne Franks inside the home of the Canadian ambassador, Affleck’s character gets a green light from the CIA to wheel-and-deal in Hollywood to drum up a back story and a little press for a phony movie, all in the hopes of hoodwinking Iranian officials with his ruse. The goal? To walk straight through airport security with the six diplomats and fly them home. The risk? Public hangings and an international incident if they blow their own cover.
One hour in and there is enough tension on screen for a sufficient payoff, but the story builds further, wracked with traps and trials and peaking at a resounding, heart-stopper of a climax. The opening mob assault on the U.S. embassy is a flurry of breathless filmmaking, and the period details—right down to the flared collars and Bee Gees hair–are spot-on. With a deft touch, Affleck balances the war zone feel of Tehran with the cutthroat sarcasm and wit-filled lighter scenes in Los Angeles. As the two Hollywood veterans who join the CIA’s cause, John Goodman and Alan Arkin bring a heart and panache to this genre picture that it sorely needs.
As comedic foils to the darker main narrative, Arkin and Goodman are just two of the film’s stellar supporting actors. Breaking Bad Emmy winner Bryan Cranston and Friday Night Lights‘ Kyle Chandler never disappoint, either, as Affleck’s superiors who alternately support and subvert his daring plan. One quibble is that Affleck’s casting as the central—and in real life, Latino—character feels more than a little selfish here. The fact is, Affleck’s directing is strong enough to stand on its own, and he shouldn’t step into the lead role, especially one that pales in comparison to those played by the supporting actors—just because he can.
Despite a flat, unemotive performance in front of the camera from Affleck, Argo is a success on every other level, avoiding melodrama and cheap nostalgia for an intense and heady thriller that shows there are rewards for taking leaps of faith, for sticking together in the face of certain death, and for knowing when not to blink, no matter what.
