Film Review: Argo

Argo is taut thriller, well-edited, it's suspenseful regardless that its story leads to a known outcome that is part of history.  Ben Affleck directs and plays Tony Mendez, a CIA agent who comes up with the best of only bad options to smuggle out six American diplomats from the Canadian embassy during the Iranian Revolution of 1979. He enlists a makeup artist contact (John Goodman) and producer (Alan Arkin) to begin pre-production on a fake movie seeking Middle-Eastern scenery for location shoots.  I can't speak to the accuracy of the events as depicted in the film, especially considering the self-importance some may ascribe to its tone.  Often, for narrative expediency, Affleck naturally stretches its artistic license concerning facts, timing, etc, but some dramatic microcosmic moments (i.e. waiting for a take to finish filming, before a couple of principal characters cross the shoot to answer a phone) taxes one's basic suspension of disbelief.  Sometimes, enough is enough.  For the most part, the movie works pretty darn well and had me on the edge of my seat until I knew it was okay to breathe.  Acting-wise, there are some solid turns from Goodman and Arkin in nominal supporting roles.  Affleck, perhaps appropriately, as he is also the director, spends his time acting calm under pressure.  He keeps getting better with each new behind-the-camera project.  His initial effort, Gone Baby Gone, was a bit scattered, but consisted of several engrossing scenes, if memory serves.  The Town was an admirable action-drama with some breathtaking sequences, if muted overall effort.  With Argo, Affleck has stepped up his game to make a crowd-pleasing event film that is fun, engrossing, and genuinely non-partisan, considering the source material, as these things go.  The costumes and hairstyles are a trip.  It looks like a movie one might expect from 1970s Hollywood, except the major element that blows its cover is its darker edges fade to a climax that leaves one cheering, rather than questioning.  No matter.  The point here is to leave the audience feeling good about themselves and being an American (or Canadian perhaps?, though there are those who take exception to the film) during one of the most economically depressed (recessed?) times in our history.

Oscar Chances
Roger Ebert predicted after TIFF last month that Argo would take Best Picture.  At this point, now that I've seen the film, I have to jump off the Tom O'Neil bandwagon and board the Ebert train.  He has got it right.  This is AMPAS catnip and unless another movie (like Les Misérables) comes along and makes a more convincing argument, Affleck can expect to be anointed into the cinematic pantheon of star directors like Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner, and Warren Beaty.  Sasha Stone over at AD pretty much had it right with likely nominations also: Picture, Director, Screenplay, Editing, Sound, Costumes (and I hope a nod for Jacqueline West is not just wishful thinking), Supporting Actor, Art Direction (in that order, for me).  Definitely the first five listed and one might say in order for Argo to truly be a player it would need at least one acting nod for a film of its type.  Campaigns would definitely be worth making for Arkin and Goodman, but some have correctly raised concerns that their roles may be too small to be competitive enough.  Two nods is unlikely, and considering Arkin is a fairly recent winner, one might say he has a leg-up with familiarity, although there is a small contingent of folks who have been clamoring for Goodman to be recognized for his film work for years now.  Considering its 95% RT score and its second weekend at the box-office came close to it opening, for the win, I would say Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, at this point, if you asked me.