Argo

Ben Affleck has solidified himself as an impressive Hollywood director. Gone are the days when he was acting in trash like Gigli (I have never seen it, but a quick Google search should tell you that the civilized world considers Gigli to be one of the worst films ever made), cavorting around town with Jennifer Lopez and on the cover of every entertainment magazine. Affleck's career has had somewhat of a strange arc. He and Matt Damon burst on to the scene in a huge way with Good Will Hunting, a film in which they co-starred and co-wrote the screenplay. At some point in the mid-2000's he decided to become Hollywood's most obnoxious face. He and Lopez generally made everyone sick with the attention they got, and along with Gigli, he made crappers like Daredevil, Pearl Harbor, and Jersey Girl (a movie that originally had Jennifer Lopez in a bigger role, but after the public was so outwardly nauseous towards the couple, her part was scaled back and she was removed from all promotional material). Then in 2008, Affleck made is directorial debut with Gone Baby Gone, a thriller starring his brother Casey, and it was critically very well received. 2010's The Town, starring himself and Jeremy Renner, was an even bigger hit. Argo, Affleck's third directorial effort, continues his comeback, and his total reinvention.

Argo is based on the true story of the Iranian Hostage Crisis in late 1979 and early 1980. Iranian revolutionists, furious over the United States government's decision to allow asylum to the deposed Iranian dictator, storm the American Embassy in Tehran and take everyone inside hostage. A group of 6 working at the Embassy manage to escape, and find refuge in the Canadian embassy. As the weeks go on and the Americans still stay in captivity, the CIA learns of the 6 escapees, and devise a plan to bring them home. Tony Mendez (Affleck) teams with two from the movie industry, John Chambers (John Goodman) and Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin), to create a fake movie called "Argo". "Argo" would serve as the cover for the 6 Americans, that they are there scouting locations in Iran for the film. Mendez would go to Iran, get the Americans on a commercial flight, and bring them to the United States.

Argo's pacing and editing is impressive. Affleck had the difficult task of bringing tension to a plot that the audience already knows. It is well known that the 6 Americans returned safely. President Clinton declassified the information surrounding their escape in 1997, and Mendez was recognized as a hero. But the film does a great job of making you feel like they could get caught. The last 45 minutes had me on the edge of my seat, even though I knew full well what the outcome was. This is owed very much in part to the way the film was edited. It's extremely intense. A lot of movies have a hard time keeping the audience to feel like the heroes are in any sort of danger at the end of a movie. 98% of movies end with the good guys triumphant and having learned a lesson, so moviegoers are generally expecting the norm to happen. Argo keeps you guessing, the intensity high, and it doesn't detract from the experience to know the outcome in advance.

For such a serious subject matter, there was still some very light moments that fit very well. Arkin and Goodman have some hilarious lines when they are producing the fake movie. The motto that they adopt using the films title is a classic line, and I laughed every time. Goodman could be in the most serious movie possible and I would still find him funny; the Coen brothers made sure of that in Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski, and O Brother Where Art Thou. His comedic talents are not wasted here.

The six American hostages are integral parts to the story, but their characters are mostly uninteresting. You care about their survival because of Mendez and America, not because of them. Likewise, Mendez's relationship with his wife and son is extremely rushed. Granted that is not the purpose of the film, but it seemed a little thrown together to help endear you towards Mendez more, and I felt like the subplot added nothing to his character.

Minor side note to those who live in Northwest Arkansas. I saw this movie at AMC Fiesta Square, my first visit there in quite a long while. Fiesta Square used to be the place to see movies in Fayetteville, but after the Malco Razorback opened my freshman year of college, it now looks like a dump in comparison. Case in point: the theater I was in had scratches all over the film that was present the entire movie. It didn't annoy that much, but come on Fiesta. It was nice to pay $4, but that price is only available to one showing a day in the afternoon, Monday-Thursday. When I was in college, the $4 deal was available at all times during the weekdays. I went all the time when this was the deal, watching everything I possibly could. To me, it seems like this is the only way for Fiesta to get customers from Razorback. There's no way I'm going to pay $8 there when I could go to Razorback for the same price, which is far superior. Fiesta needs to bring back the $4 weekday deal!

Argo will most certainly be a contender in the Oscar hunt, and will be a heavy favorite to make my personal top 10.

4/5