Affleck’s Argo reels in greatness
Posted on Oct 16, 2012 in Features
Certain to make many critics’ Best of the Year list, “Argo” is that rare film that somehow manages the neat feat of both educating and entertaining in equal measure. In this day and age, that’s saying something, given that most films either seek to do one or the other, often forgetting that the two things don’t necessarily have to be mutually exclusive.
Enjoying one of the more impressive second acts in film is actor Ben Affleck who, after bemoaning the quality of roles he was getting and the state of film in general, actually decided to do something about it. You can almost hear a producer, not unlike the one played by Alan Arkin here, telling Affleck: “If you think you can do better, go right ahead.” So, taking his fate into his own hands, Affleck did just that, knocking it out of the park not once but twice, with “Gone Baby Gone” and “The Town,” as good of films as Hollywood has produced in the last decade.
Ben A eck directs and stars in what critics are already claiming one of the best lms of the year. Argothemovie.com
With “Argo,” however, not only is the third time truly the charm, but he’s managed to make a film every bit as informative as it is engaging. I won’t even pretend to have known much about the real-life Iranian hostage situation depicted in the film or the politics of the era going in, but the way Affleck tells the story, I not only understand it better on a surface level, but I learned a thing or two about how things were done back in the day before the advent of the internet and cell phones and the like. Not to mention how things got to the point they are now, in terms of our relations with Iran, and the Middle East as a whole in a more general sense.
The near-fetishistic attention to detail in this film is staggering. It really puts the viewer right into the era in an impressively well-rounded way that brings to mind similar projects by David Fincher (“Zodiac”) and Spike Lee (“Summer of Sam”). Although the film is set in the late 70s-early 80s, even if it’s before your time, you’ll be transported right there as if it were unspooling right before your eyes.
The lovingly-crafted film takes special note of the technology of the time and the pop culture of the era in equal measure- get ready to drool in your popcorn, “Star Wars” fans- backing it up with one hell of a soundtrack. To that end, Affleck even managed to convince the notoriously gun-shy Led Zeppelin to hand over a track, and it’s a deep cut at that- ditto the tracks from the Rolling Stones and others. There’s even a cameo from freaking Adrienne Barbeau (“Creepshow,” “Escape from New York”) in full geek-pleasing mode, no less, down to her flashy futuristic wardrobe. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg- the fun stuff.
That aspect of the era would be fun enough on its own as the subject matter of a film, but to fuse a “Boogie Nights”-style approach to mainstream Hollywood at the time with a political thriller-of all things- proves to be a stroke of genius. Just try not to get swept up in the intensity of the film’s latter half, when the mood changes to dead seriousness. It’s a nail biter, to be sure.
The plot is truly the definition of one of those stories that no one would believe were true if it hadn’t actually happened. When a group of six Americans are trapped in Iran after a radical group seizes the American Embassy in protest of the US giving safe haven to Iranian dictator Khomeini, Tony Mendez (Affleck) comes up with an inspired but truly demented gambit- what if the government sanctioned a rescue mission under the guise of scouting locations for a non-existent sci-fi flick entitled “Argo”? As Mendez puts it: “It’s the best bad idea we have.”
Enlisting a special effects artist (John Goodman) and a faltering Hollywood producer (Alan Arkin) to help sell the lie, the gang sign off on an unproduced script called “Argo,” which they sell to the press with much fanfare as an actual impending project, even going so far as to stage a read-through for public consumption.
Then it’s up to Mendez to travel to Iran and coach the trapped group so that they can sell that they are, in fact, part of a film crew traveling with him, a group that’s only just arrived instead of having been essentially held hostage against their will, albeit in the cushy home of a Canadian sympathizer (Victor Garber).
The plan is for them to leave with Mendez after he delivers their fake passports and helps them learn their cover roles as members of his crew. In short, the civilians have to become actors in the roles of a lifetime in the most literal terms imaginable. The price they pay if they aren’t able to sell their roles could very well result in nothing less than their getting killed on the spot. Now that’s a tough audition!
Affleck does as good a job selling the escape as he does the set-up, as the group faces turmoil and potential capture at nearly every turn, constantly in danger of being exposed. It’s as scary and sweat-inducing as the first half is fun and engaging, only in a wholly different way, as the stakes are infinitely higher.
The cast is superlative across the board, and filled to the breaking point with familiar faces. If Arkin in particular isn’t a shoe-in for Oscar consideration, I’m not sure anyone else deserves to be. He knocks his role out of the park as a producer on the downswing of his career trajectory. “If I’m going to make a fake movie, it’s going to be a fake hit!” he barks at one point, memorably.
But this is undeniably Affleck’s show, and he proves himself as capable a director as any I’ve ever seen. This film ranks right up there with all the other classics of the genre within its wheelhouse, including the likes of “All the President’s Men,” “Midnight Express” and “Network,” all of which come to mind during various parts of the film. It also feels as if it actually came from that era of filmmaking, from the opening old-school Warner Brothers logo to the closing montage in which we see the real faces represented alongside their filmic counterparts.
I can’t express how fulfilling it is to feel as entertained as I was educated, though. How often can one say that about a film these days? “Argo” is Hollywood at its finest, and makes good on Affleck’s promise as a directing force to truly be reckoned with. He might just want to clear out a space on the mantle for all the Oscar gold he’s going to win next year now, because “Argo” is just that good. If you miss it, you’re missing Hollywood at the height of its powers, and I don’t say that lightly, believe me. The movie within the movie may be complete fiction, but “Argo” is the real deal.
Grade: A+
Mark Trammell
Staff Writer
mrgordo@uab.edu