Review: Argo

Movie: Argo

Language: English

Director: Ben Affleck

Cast: Ben Affleck, Alan Arkin, John Goodman… and others.

I was waiting to watch this movie, and at last I saw it, nothing short of expectation. 

And on for my review now.

 Ben Affleck has grown, his directorial movies are class apart (Gone baby Gone, The Town etc). Well now Argo takes Ben to the next level, The Oscar. It could well be nominated for the best director and also for the Best movie, even for best supporting cast. Excellent team work I would say, a taut screenplay, some brilliant performances make this movie a must watch and an Oscar contender.

 This movie is based on an incident known as ‘Canadian caper’. The problem is that, it is a Hollywood take, on a true incident happened in Iran during the Islamic revolution. This movie is a dramatized take on the incident and projects the role played by CIA and Hollywood more than what actually happened (the hero of the movie is someone else in reality, just Google and read, what had actually happened for those who are curious).

 It is 1979; Islamic revolution is happening in Iran, the Shah runs off to America and Ayatollah Khomeini takes over the leadership of Iran. There is widespread resentment over the Americans, as they had given shelter to the Ex-Ruler. Hence people attack the US embassy in Tehran, during this fiasco six people escape and (in the movie) get asylum in the home of Canadian ambassador. These scenes are depicted using some real footages and images actually taken during that time; it gives credibility and makes us get into the mood of the movie.

 And this sets off the main theme of the movie, the rescue of the six Americans. It is now in the hands of CIA, and an expert Tony Mendez (an Awesome Ben himself) chalks out a rather odd plan, rescue the people in guise of making a Hollywood sci-fi movie named Argo (and hence name of the movie is the name of the MOVIE that was never made! Seriously!). And hence sets up a production house in Hollywood with the help of makeup man John chambers. And rest of the movie is about how Tony rescues the six, and how they manage to escape Iran without any problem.

The plot is a made for Hollywood kind, it is a surprise how this has escaped notice of the producers is another story altogether. And this movie is been produced by Ben himself with George Clooney (Indian Industry please take a note).

The movie is brilliant. It is an edge of the seat thriller and never wavers and is bang on. The editing is wonderful; no lag anywhere, the flow is smooth. The background score too sets up the mood of the movie and at places it truly deserves applause. And the best part is the cast; you can see their resemblance to their character during the credits, the acting is excellent, everyone have done their part well, there are no issues in believing that they were truly the hostages. A superb screenplay too deserves credit and also the captain of the team, the director who manages to combine everything together and make such a wonderful movie.

  

 Cons: It is difficult to understand this movie if you don’t know your history or what had happened during the Islamic revolution, and it could make you even biased against the Iranians. And moreover this movie over emphasis the role played by CIA and Hollywood to the rescue of the six trapped people. Many of the events are dramatized to suit the movie’s need, and the onus is on the viewer to find what had actually happened during the time. This again is what Hollywood is all about. Jumping between truth and fiction is really not a good option if it creates or undermines the role played by others.

Pros: If we see Argo only as a movie, it is bang on. A perfect thriller, superb acting, editing, music and with actual footages proving enough realism to make us get into the movie. This movie has everything going for it, and yet another master art from Ben Affleck. Moreover Argo reminds us of the truly remarkable incident and how people from different countries, background come together to help out people in distress, and reestablishes our faith in humanity. The final images shown during the credits are really good and it appreciates the work done by those people, who at time of crisis displayed truly remarkable grit. Hence movie works at all level, a heavy Oscar contender.

 Overall: A must watch piece of Art and an edge of seat thriller, and one of the best movie of the year. And what more reason do you want to watch this?

  

  P.S- No post script. ( :D )