MPAA Rating: R/Genre: Historical Drama Thriller/Stars: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Victor Garber, Tate Donovan, Clea DuVall, Adrienne Barbeau, Scoot McNairy, Rory Cochrane, Christopher Denham, Kerry Bishé, Kyle Chandler, Chris Messina, Željko Ivanek, Titus Welliver, Keith Szarabajka, Bob Gunton, Phillip Baker Hall, Richard Kind, Richard Dillane, Omid Abtahi, Page Leong, Farshad Farahat, Sheila Vand/Runtime: 120 minutes

I think it is safe to start this review off by letting you in on two mantras in life that have usually held true no matter what the circumstances involved. Those mantras being both “truth is stranger than fiction” and “Hollywood and covert ops headed by the CIA usually do NOT mix well and one should try to avoid mixing them at nearly any cost”. Now even though yes dear reader I did in fact make that last one up, the truth is that the key word you should have noticed in the last one was the word usually. I say that because believe it or not dear reader there was, so far as we know anyway, one time in the annals of American history where Hollywood, the CIA, and the government of no less a country than Canada all teamed up for a mission of grave importance. That mission being the focus of the slice of cinema I am reviewing for you today, 2012’s Best Picture at the Oscars winner Argo. Indeed, here is the story of how a single CIA agent, with back-up from two titans in the industry of movie magic as well as representatives in both the American and Canadian governments, managed to come up with a plan meant to completely and utterly bamboozle Islamic militants who were looking for 6 Americans who had escaped the takeover of the embassy in Tehran back in 1979. A plan that involved the agent plus the 6 escapees posing as (get this) a Canadian film crew location scouting in Tehran for a B-grade Star Wars-rip off sci-fi movie that, script and a few storyboards aside, never fully existed at any given time. Perhaps the biggest surprise of all though isn’t the plan itself. Rather, it’s how genuinely great of a movie this is. Yes there is a fair bit of comedy to be found here, but otherwise this is a phenomenally well-made and extremely well-acted thriller in the vein of something like All the President’s Men where there are no gun battles, but you are still on the edge of your seat due to no more and no less than a claustrophic-feeling of suspense that keeps getting tighter and tighter as the film goes on as well as the very real vibe of dire peril seemingly around every bend for both our hero and the people he’s meant to save respectively.

The plot is as follows: Taking us all the way back to the long-ago year of 1979, the slice of cinema that is Argo gets underway by showing us, via animated storyboards and documentary footage, how the United States and their allies’ level of influence in Iran at that time orchestrated a successful overthrow of the Iranian government to put in place a Shah that would be more in synch with their interests in the area. Unfortunately, we soon see that this change in leadership only is able to last for so long before a counter coup of Islamic militants led by Ayatollah Khomeini retakes Iran. Yet we soon see that matters would only get worse due to then U.S. President Jimmy Carter offering the Shah, who by then was dying of cancer, and his family asylum in the United States. As a result, on the 4th of November in 1979, a literal mob of furious militants turned their protest outside the U.S. embassy in Tehran into a full-blown takeover which saw 52 individuals be taken hostage inside. However, unbeknownst to the protesters, a group of about 6 American workers consisting of Lee Schatz, Bob Anders, Joe Stafford and his wife Kathy, and Mark Lijek and his wife Cora respectively managed to sneak out the proverbial backdoor and find shelter at the Canadian Ambassador’s house. However, due to both a fear that the escapees could be found sooner rather than later and punished quite severely when found to say nothing of the fact that the Canadian PM wants to keep her ambassador safe as well, we soon see that the U.S. State Dept and the CIA start to put their heads together and work on a plan to get the 6 out of Iran. As a result, this is where our main character, one Tony Mendez, comes into the picture. Tony, we rather quickly learn, is a highly skilled member of the CIA whose specialty is in getting high-value people out of volatile places or exfils for short. Unfortunately, we see that Mendez doesn’t have any ideas at the initial briefing, but thankfully it isn’t long before he has one. One that involves both an iconic makeup artist/ CIA asset by the name of John Chambers and a cranky yet skilled producer named Lester Siegel and revolves around the creation of a fake science-fiction movie that sees both Mendez and the 6 escapees posing as members of the film crew who are in Iran scouting locations to shoot the film before heading back home to their native Canada. Suffice it to say that it might sound too crazy to work, but can Mendez and his team make this loony idea viable enough that it is able to convince both the reluctant group hiding out as well as the gun-toting Islamic militants throughout the city, but especially at the airport? That I will leave for you to discover for yourself dear reader……

Now right off the bat, it should be noted that in terms of the work being done behind the camera, Affleck’s third time stepping into the director’s chair only managed to solidify just what 2007’s riveting Gone Baby Gone and 2010’s fantastic The Town managed to claim. That being that not only is Affleck a fantastic director, but he also has a wonderful talent for taking a complex collection of events and making a comprehensible narrative out of them and he has a fantastic eye for detail respectively. It is in that last regard therefore that, right from the start with that iconic yet old school Warner Bros. logo from the era, we see this slice of cinema really soar as Affleck has managed in nearly every way to make this film look and feel like one that was made at the time in which it is taking place. As a result, from a hair and costume perspective, not only are the clothes being worn on-point for that era and the majority of the guys in this possessing some kind of facial hair, but their hair on top of their head is also a wee bit reminiscent of the style had by Shaggy on Scooby-Doo as well. This also extends to the settings as well including the Warner Bros. studio backlot’s water town looking like it did back then, the CIA’s offices looking less like today and more like a chaotic old-school newsroom complete with ash trays full of used cigarettes. Finally, we also see that Affleck makes the brilliant decision at certain points to utilize news footage from the era including reports from such dignitaries as Ted Koppel and Walter Cronkite and even throwing in the interview Mike Wallace conducted with Khomeini at one point. Thankfully, we see that rather than deter or cancel out the main narrative, these intricate details do a wonderful job of further placing us in the time and place that this slice of cinema is occurring in. Suffice it to say that Affleck and his team’s skilled application of precision and accuracy is incredibly spot-on right down to his transformation of modern-day Turkey into late 70s/early 80s Tehran. Of course, you should know by now that there are some examples in this slice of cinema of the actual history being tinkered with just slightly here with the key examples of this being not only significant trimming down of just how vital a role the Canadian government played in the whole affair to say nothing of the fact that just how this slice of cinema wraps things up wasn’t exactly how things went down in real life. By the same token however, not only does this really help sell just how desperate the situation faced by Tony and his teammates, to say nothing of the American government by extension really is, but it also helps to up the suspense factor on display here considerably. Ultimately however, this slice of cinema becomes a wild and crazy, but actually fairly legit look at just how the CIA, when engaged in an op like this, must sometimes utilize their brain cells and come up with some truly imaginative solutions to problems like this. More than that though, this is also a wonderful reminder from Affleck that as an actor he has the skill to do great work, but as a film helmer he can be a genuine force to be reckoned with all things considered.

Of course, the other big element that has to work in order for a slice of cinema in this vein to work overall is the performances in front of the camera. Thankfully, that is not an issue this slice of cinema is saddled with since the performances by this slice of cinema’s cast are all aces in every sense of the word. This starts with, surprise surprise, Ben Affleck in the lead role of Tony Mendez and he is fantastic (right down to the awesome beard he’s rocking). No, you should know that he honestly looks nothing like the man that he is supposed to be portraying so if that’s a deal breaker for you then I’m sorry. If you can get past that minor detail however, there is no denying that when Affleck is given the right material he can really soar as a performer and this is most assuredly one of those times. Indeed, not only does Affleck bring a wonderful mix of wry humor, grim seriousness, and passionate determination, but he also really does give off the vibe through both what he says and how he says it that he genuinely cares about the people he has to get out of this situation. As a result, every time a setback or advancement in the scheme occurs, you really get a chance to see Affleck emote in a way that feels organic every single time. Suffice it to say that it is a wonderful performance from Affleck that honestly should have got more awards attention than it got. We also get a terrific performance here from Bryan Cranston as Tony’s boss at the Agency Jack O’Donnell. Indeed, as played by Cranston, Jack might be a wee bit grumpy and snarky at times, but he also does have loyalty towards his people and is willing to do whatever he can in his power to help them succeed even if he has to resort to some rather….unique tactics in the process that I won’t spoil here to get the job done. Suffice it to say I have long felt that Cranston has been one of the land of movie magic’s more underappreciated talents and this slice of cinema simply manages to prove that point even further. We also get wonderful work here from both John Goodman and Alan Arkin as John Chambers and Lester Siegel respectively. Yes, you should know that their roles in this are most definitely co-starring roles. Even with that in mind though, there is no denying that this immensely talented duo manages to take the screentime that they are given and not only make it work, but also give this slice of cinema a sense of levity that it honestly needs with at least one joke made during their screentime that I think will stay with you for a while. Suffice it to say that when you also factor in wonderful support work from such screen icons as Phillip Baker Hall, Bob Gunton, Victor Garber, Tate Donovan, Rory Cochrane, Chris Messina, Kyle Chandler, Titus Welliver, Scoot McNairy, and (in a welcome cameo) Adrienne Barbeau to name but a few examples what you have with this slice of cinema is a cast that not only knows the assignment, but is firing on all cylinders in order to make this movie, from an acting perspective, the best that it can be.

All in all is Argo a practically perfect in every way slice of cinema? Honestly no though with that in mind, I would be willing to hear a counter argument to that belief if anyone out there is willing to try and provide me with one. With that being said though, is this slice of cinema downright awful? Absolutely not! In fact, I am more than willing to say that this slice of cinema is actually one of the best that the latter half of the long-gone year 2012 sought fit to give us as movie goers. Indeed, yes it might take some liberties with how the events in question actually played out in real life and I can definitely understand how that might ruffle a few feathers out there, but I still think praise must be given to Affleck in his role of director for taking this story and making it both accessible to a wide audience as well as a taut thriller that will most assuredly have you on the edge of your seat more than once. Suffice it to say then that the work done behind the camera is top-notch in every sense of the word at bringing movie goers back into the world of the 1970s right down to the rocking soundtrack and the moustaches and other assorted shaggy facial hair whilst the work being done in front of the camera by this slice of cinema’s immensely talented cast of players is nothing short of top-flight and everyone is incredibly well-chosen for their respective parts. Thus if you are in the mood for a rather unique cinematic entry in the pantheon of “wild and crazy stories that are also incredibly true” then definitely give this one a try. I promise you most definitely will not regret it. Make of that what thou will dear reader. On a scale of 1-5 I give Argo “2012” a solid 4 out of 5.