Argo (2012) movie narrates the inside story of an exfiltration. It took place during the Iran Hostage Crisis. Six American diplomats got out of the embassy in Tehran right before Iranian militants seized it. Canadian embassy took them as ‘house guests’ while everyone turned their back on them.
Now the U.S. government has to get them out of the country and the movie tries to depict the ups and downs of this extraction. The movie got nominated for 7 Academy Awards and won three of them. I’m sure thriller lovers will enjoy every minute this film has to offer.
Looped Stream team had the whole week to ourselves and decided to watch this film at home. Our team decided to come up with Argo (2012) Movie Review of our own. We’ll discuss the plot, how the good was the cast, how good was the film itself and a lot more along the way! Let’s dive into it, shall we?
Argo (2012) Movie Plot
The movie is based on true events. Argo is about an ‘extraction’ that took place during the Iran hostage crisis. Six people slip away right before Iranian militants take over the U.S. embassy in Tehran. The six diplomats take refuge in the Canadian embassy.
The U.S. government calls on ‘exfil’ guy Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) to rescue them knowing, it’s just a matter of time before they get caught and executed. Finding no other cover stories good enough, Mendez decides to go with his best bad idea ‘Argo’.
He masquerades as a Hollywood producer and tries to get those six trapped diplomats out of Tehran disguised as his ‘film’ crew scouting locations.
Cast and Crew of the Film
Group of Actors: Ben Affleck, Bryan Arkin, John Goodman and more…
The Director: Ben Affleck
Genre of the Movie: Drama | Thriller
Release Date of the Movie: November 7, 2012 (in the UK)
Duration of the Film: 120 Minutes
Language: English
IMDb Rating of the Movie: 7.7
Rotten Tomato Meter: 96% Fresh
Argo (2012) Movie Trailer
Argo (2012) Movie Review by Looped Stream Team!
We’ve seen hostage movies, and we’ve seen political films. But Argo was nothing like them. As a political thriller, it has its own bits. Argo perfectly showed us what the horror of being held as a hostage feels like. Ben Affleck did an outstanding job directing the movie.
The movie would seem like a crazy story if it wasn’t adapted from a true story. The unbelievable story of a CIA agent disguised as a Hollywood movie producer getting six stuck American diplomats out of Tehran as his Canadian film crew during the infamous Iran hostage crisis is truly impeccable.
The exfiltration story alone is intriguing. The movie also lets us look back into one of the darkest times of the world’s international political history. The evaded six are trapped in a foreign country, knowing they can get caught and executed any day. Their personal struggles are shown brilliantly in this movie.
The movie earned both positive and negative feedback from its audiences. But, in our version of Argo’s (2012) movie review, we’ve stayed impartial to the film so that you can get a clear view before watching it. So, let’s see what’s in it for you.
The Source Material
The movie Argo (2012) is filmed based on a true story which is no surprise. Otherwise, who would believe that this ‘best bad idea’ could ever be executed? The movie depicts the ‘Canadian Caper’, a joint covert mission run by the Canadian Government and CIA.
The entire disguise was engineered by a CIA agent, Tony Mendez, from the fake making of a sci-fi movie to setting up a phony production house. In the film, we can see Mendez’s struggles and hard work to get the six out of Tehran.
How good is Affleck’s Direction?
Regarding the question of direction, Ben Affleck did a spot-on Job. We already know that Affleck is a better director than an actor. He got his own way of telling a story, and his art is significantly individual.
The movie will surely give you the late 70s vibe with its picture quality. The editing team used actual media footage of the Iran hostage crisis in the film. This was a masterstroke. Argo was filmed with the intensity it needed as a political thriller. The sense of peril and threat was all over it.
With the suspense, the tension between characters, and the mental struggle of the stuck diplomats, Affleck caught them on camera like a pro. Everybody who watched the movie, including me, wondered why Affleck didn’t win any Oscars for the brilliant direction of this movie.
Affleck shaped the Argo (2012) as a well-balanced historical thriller that doesn’t fail to present its funny moment without falling far too off the track. Overall, Affleck did an excellent Job. And the movie is a true classic.
Factors that Help Elevate Argo Further (Background Music and Script)
Composer Alexandre Desplat did a brilliant job on the BGM Argo movie. He even managed to get an Oscar Nomination in 2012 for his work in the movie. Desplat certainly did justice to the fans of world music. You’ll certainly feel the presence of middle-eastern melodies in the film.
But just when you think he only used world music in the film, you will realize it’s not. Using American melodies that close with middle-eastern flair was a pleasant touch by Desplat. He surely scored a brilliant fusion of two cultures in those melodies.
Desplat’s creation made the tension in the air more intense. A plan that could go wrong any second isn’t easy to be expressed through music. Desplat still managed to work perfectly with both traditional and electronic melodies.
Adding wordless vocals to the score gave it a good finish. Overall, Argo’s BGM was not just colorful but a treat for world music fans.
Chris Terrio and Ben Affleck built the script of a real movie about fake movies and a real mission skillfully. We at Looped Stream, got hooked for the entire two hours because of such a script. Yes, at times, it felt like too much was going on.
There were some places where the script felt unreal. But then again, it had enough to keep up with the fast-paced story. And it didn’t fail to make the audience worry about whether the six diplomats will make it out safely. The tension in the air remained throughout the entire movie.
How was the Acting?
From the main characters to the supporting cast, every actor did their job perfectly without a doubt. Ben Affleck’s acting wasn’t the star performance of the film, in our opinion.
Joe Stafford stole the spotlight with his spot on acting as a stuck diplomat who is not just worried but full of guilt. In the film’s last minutes, he drew everyone’s attention with his performance. We must mention John Goodman and Alan Arkin for adding funny bits to the film.
And of course, the actors who played the roles of militants, everything about them shouts ‘horror’. And those who acted as the Airport security guards expressed the innocence that lies inside even an ignorant militant.
Negative Bits of the Film
There isn’t much to talk about when it comes to the downsides of Argo (2012). Yes, there are some complaints about the movie being historically inaccurate. But Hollywood has done worse. The real events weren’t as full of twists as the film is.
Some also said it didn’t accurately show Canada’s involvement in the mission. Otherwise, Argo is a spectacular movie to watch.
What Do We Think about Argo (2012)?
We’re not going to exaggerate by telling Argo a masterpiece. It’s not. It’s a good watch, quite entertaining, and it lets us know about the horror of a tragic event. The fast-moving plot kept us hooked.
At times, we felt like all the actors were talking together, and real media footage against scripted scenes was too much to see. But tension and horror were present until the last minute. The movie may not be historically accurate, but we cannot deny it making a place in our hearts for the ‘Canadian Caper’.
Argo (2012) deserves special recognition for showing that CIA agents are not just order-executing robots but also have hearts. And it got ample awards at the 2012 Oscars.
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