Directed by Ben Affleck
Characters:
Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck)
Jack O'Donnel (Bryan Cranston)
Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin)
John Chambers (John Goodman)
Argo is a 2012 film directed and lead by Ben Affleck, which tells the story of a man trying to get a group of six Americans out of Iran during the Tehran hostage crisis of 1979/80. Yes, this is based on a true story and all the characters in it are real people. The credits sequence shows the actor portraying that person, beside the real person themselves.
How does this man plan on getting these people out? By making a fake movie, of course. It's the most logical option. And that's not even a joke. It's illustrated pretty clearly that this is the most logical thing they could have done. The movie was supposedly a blockbuster sci-fi movie, titled 'Argo'.
That's one of the things crucial to a movie like this. Detail. Explanation. It all needs to be accurate and meaningful, and Argo did just that. Ben Affleck's direction was great, earning him the Oscar for best picture, best adapted screenplay and best film editing. Deservedly so. One other thing that I feel is overlooked is the music. The score was pretty much only two bars long, with only a piano solo, but it was great. It had emotion behind it. The movie currently sits at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, and that isn't easy.
Performance-wise, I think we've come to a point where we no longer need to question Ben Affleck's acting. We're past the days of laughing at him for Daredevil, and into the days of calling him the definitive Batman. This movie is no different. Not only has he brilliantly directed the film, but he's also delivered a great performance.
Bryan Cranston, as always, is great. Alan Arkin and John Goodman, portraying real life famous people, had to be good, and indeed they were. The six hostages as well were not bad, although I wouldn't call them the focus of the movie.
There are a few flat notes though. The cinematography is great for the most part, especially scenes that look old, but in one part of the movie, it just seemed off. Also, for a chunk of a few minutes, there was a sequence that was meant to create tension and emotion, and I understand that, but it was just so boring. Thankfully, that ends though, and the movie gets back into gear.
So this movie wasn't perfect then. Definitely deserved the Oscar awards that it received, but there are some downsides.
Anyway, on a scale where M is the lowest, and R is the highest possible rating, with the highlighted letter being the rating:
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