The first time that I heard of the film was when I watched the trailer on YouTube. It looked interesting especially when the trailer used Aerosmith's "Dream On". So me and my Mom watched the movie and unanimously agreed that the film was great. Eight years later, the film still holds up but I have some complaints about it.
Since it is based on an actual event, the movie had an ingenious way to show with storyboards how the crises began. It was educational for one thing as well as showing how Iran's ayatollah came into power and had an influence among the Iranian revolutionaries who wanted the country to revert back to a conservative Islamic state. What I liked is when in the beginning of the film it bounced back and forth from the archival footage from a civilian to the reenacted dramatic siege of the American embassy. It got intense by showing just how the embassy got invaded and inter splicing shots of the workers who were attempting to destroy data that they had. Near the end, there are six workers who escaped and go to the Canadian embassy.
So throughout the film, we follow Tony Mendez who is played by Affleck. From what the film makes it to be seemingly true is by having him be the one to come up with the plan of using a fake Hollywood movie to get the remaining six Americans out of Iran. The moments where Mendez is in Tinseltown to meet makeup artist John Chambers and Alan Aarkin's character is the best. There is something about Goodman and Aarkin's blunt vibe that stole the show in that instance. Especially Aarkin's Lester Siegel who is a washed up producer has a great moment where he sounds off on another producer over financing "Argo". He is hilarious and off kilter which made me a fan of his character. More so when he created the rally cry of "Argo Fuck Yourself".
I should also want to elaborate on the scenes in Hollywood by saying that Affleck did a great job in recreating the feel of late 70s early 80s look of the town. I was not aware that the Hollywood sign was in a decrepit shape. It is emphasized in the credits when stills of the movie are put next to the actual photos of the Hollywood sign in disrepair. One detail that the film has is a very grainy look, suggesting that it was either shot in a 16mm or had an effect. When I got up to get a glass of water, I noticed little grains in the footage which could be an artificial effect. Compounding it is the film opens with Saul Bass' Warner Bros. logo.
Now, for as much as I love the film, there are problems with it that I feel hamper the story of the "Canadian Caper". Reading more into how the operation had actually happened, I would have liked if we saw scenes between US and Canadian intelligence communicating how exactly to bring the six Americans out of Iran. Another thing was just how the Iranians were being portrayed when Tony was in the Iranian country. The film makes it seem that all of them absolutely hate Americans or have a blood lust. Moreover, the movie amplifies the danger by having none of the remaining workers attempt to step out, for fear of getting captured.
Amongst the other inaccuracies that the film has, my opinion on movies taking historical moments should at least be authentic to a point. I can understand when a director should take creative liberties to make the movie engaging, but I feel that for such a subject like this one I feel that only the ending should have some creative liberty. The moment when Tony and the six embassy workers board the plane, a few revolutionaries charge for the plane to try to stop it. That moment was heart racing since I wanted the Americans to escape. It still worked on me years later. Aside from that, I think that the film can be a doorway for audiences to look into the "Canadian Caper" since the film omits sections of what happened. Attached below is the "Wired" article about the mission as well as the book the movie used as a basis.
Overall, Argo is one of Ben Affleck's best movies where he both directed and acted in. Some discrepancies hamper the storytelling of a risky rescue where lives were at stake.
Argo gets a 4 out of 5.
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