Cast: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman
Director: Ben Affleck
[highlight]Overall Rating: 4.5/5[/highlight][divider]
We love going blind at the slightest light of awesomeness that hits us in the eye, and Argo makes sure we embrace blindness by lighting up the screen with sheer brilliance. From the opening red-white Warner Brothers’ logo (of the ’70s) to the last events at the airport, the movie promises loads of dark comical moments, witty exchanges, unnerving thrill and decent bits of irony every now and then.
The incorporated news footage and comic-boards in the first five minutes of the movie undresses the post World War relations between USA and Iran for the viewer, and believe me you, your eyes start making love with the visuals that unfold hereafter. Established on a true story, the movie briefly touches up on the political friction shared by the two countries which prompted into a hostage-situation in Iran. Six US diplomats manage to free themselves from the Iranians, and a CIA bigshot Tony Mendes (Ben Affleck) is handed over the responsibility of rescuing these six missing escapees. Mendes gets hold of a friend cum Hollywood make-up-artist John Chambers (John Goodman), and the story starts moulding as they work out the plan. The plan wasn’t easy, and their best plan involved posing away as Canadian movie-makers of a sci-fi film titled ‘Argo’, and bring back the hostages as crew people. A real producer is hired, a fake script is churned up, fake actors are appointed, advertisements start surfacing over the newspapers, and the plan is lived. What happens at the end is anybody’s guess, but the viewer’s seriousness is never compromised upon.
Ben Affleck performs and extracts equally brilliant performances out of Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin and John Goodman. With some of the best wit passed along in writer Chris Terrio’s dialogues, and the nerve-binding undercover thrills, this movie packs in fun along with severe levels of tension that makes this one of the best political satire ever. The feel and look of that particular period is captured very beautifully, and the screenplay deserves a special mention as it keeps the movie tight all the way through to the very end.
All in all, the movie deserves a watch for the performances, more so for the memorable dialogues, and for the most refreshing brain-food you’ve had in days.
We love going blind at the slightest light of awesomeness that hits us in the eye, and Argo makes sure we embrace blindness by lighting up the screen with sheer brilliance. From the opening red-white Warner Brothers’ logo (of the ’70s) to the last events at the airport, the movie promises loads of dark comical moments, witty exchanges, unnerving thrill and decent bits of irony every now and then.
The incorporated news footage and comic-boards in the first five minutes of the movie undresses the post World War relations between USA and Iran for the viewer, and believe me you, your eyes start making love with the visuals that unfold hereafter. Established on a true story, the movie briefly touches up on the political friction shared by the two countries which prompted into a hostage-situation in Iran. Six US diplomats manage to free themselves from the Iranians, and a CIA bigshot Tony Mendes (Ben Affleck) is handed over the responsibility of rescuing these six missing escapees. Mendes gets hold of a friend cum Hollywood make-up-artist John Chambers (John Goodman), and the story starts moulding as they work out the plan. The plan wasn’t easy, and their best plan involved posing away as Canadian movie-makers of a sci-fi film titled ‘Argo’, and bring back the hostages as crew people. A real producer is hired, a fake script is churned up, fake actors are appointed, advertisements start surfacing over the newspapers, and the plan is lived. What happens at the end is anybody’s guess, but the viewer’s seriousness is never compromised upon.