Argo (2012)
“This is the best bad idea we have, sir. By far.” – Jack O’Donnell.
Argo (2012)
Directed by: Ben Affleck
Written by: Chris Terrio (screenplay by), Tony Mendez (based on the novel by)
Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Alan Arkin
Argo was an Academy Awards darling back in 2012, receiving seven Oscar nominations and winning three, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. Given the content in the film (we’ll get to that shortly), this could very well be seen as Hollywood patting itself on the back, similar to La La Land’s somewhat narcissistic award success. However, almost a decade later the adaptation of this incredible historical drama thriller still holds up, and in my opinion it’s still the best picture of the 2012 nominees. [Note: a case could be made for Django Unchained, but I still think it’s one of Tarantino’s worst movies and will die on that hill despite the criticism I get for that take.]
Based on a true story, Argo begins on November 4, 1979. President Jimmy Carter has granted asylum in the U.S. to the Shah during the Iranian Revolution, leading to Iranian Islamists storming the United States embassy in Tehran. Sixty-six of the embassy staff are taken as hostages, but six evade capture and are granted shelter in the home of the Canadian ambassador. Engaged by the U.S. State Department, CIA agent Tony Mendez (Affleck) concocts a plan to get them home – they are Canadian filmmakers who are in Iran scouting exotic locations for a science-fiction film named ‘Argo’. With the help of Hollywood heavy-hitters Lester Siegel (Arkin) and John Chambers (Goodman), Mendez has to trick the world into thinking Argo is a real movie, while navigating the increasingly dangerous Iranian crisis.
It goes without saying, but the main drawcard of this film is the incredible true story. This is true of any biopic – the only reason they’re made into a movie is that the real-life event is interesting – but the fact that no one really knew about this facet of a highly publicised global news event is fascinating. A government funding the production and advertising of a fake feature film in order to create an alibi for stranded citizens? It’s honestly something out of a novel, and the dramatisation of the CIA meetings and backdoor planning in contrast with the insanity of the embassy invasion is incredibly entertaining. To be fair, the script does pander a bit to both Western audiences and the Academy, with the two big heroes in the film presented as America and Hollywood. Whilst true to an extent, the exaggeration of the CIA’s involvement and Hollywood’s willing participation is a bit of screenwriter magic by Terrio, as this narrative helped the film to box office success, and resulted in a slew of awards from a self-absorbed Academy.
Terrio’s script is a fantastic combination of drama and action, using fast pacing and a snappy script to ensure an overwhelming sense of uncertainty and stress hangs over the film. This is true from the opening scene, with the film capturing the insanity of the embassy invasion. To quote M from James Bond, invading an embassy is “the only absolutely inviolate rule of international relations.” Knowing that the Iranian Islamists are willing to violate these unspoken laws reinforces the stakes for the six escapees – get caught, and you’re in grave danger.
The cast in this film is world-class. Ben Affleck is consistent as always (and does a stellar job being the lead and director once again, following successful runs in Gone Baby Gone and The Town), Alan Arkin and John Goodman are impeccable as the Hollywood duo, and the supporting cast is overflowing with the talent of Bryan Cranston, Victor Garber, Tate Donovan, Clea DuVall, Scoot McNairy, Rory Cochrane, Christopher Denham, Kerry Bishe, Kyle Chandler and more.
Now for the biggest criticism this film received: inaccuracy. As with any movie ‘based on a true story’, the scriptwriter needs to condense a real-life story into an exciting two-hour film that is easily digestible by audiences. Terrio achieved this, with Argo receiving great critical acclaim and financial success. However, there are a LOT of inconsistencies between the real-life events and the film, with the CIA’s official twitter page even posting a thread they called ‘Argo: Reel vs Reel’ (actually shattered I didn’t think of this pun), in which they cleared some of these up;
The major criticism is how much the film downplayed the Canadian government’s involvement. In the film, the CIA mastermind every solution and the Canadians essentially act as babysitters. Jimmy Carter even came out and disputed this after the release of the film, stating that “90% of the contributions to the ideas and the consummation of the plan was Canadian”. As I said above, Terrio has very clearly moulded the script to pander to American audiences.
There’s a scene in the film where the diplomats have to travel around the Tehran Grand Bazaar to keep up appearances, showing that they are in fact ‘scouting locations’. This is painted as a very dangerous situation for the Americans, but never happened in real life. They remained in the Canadian embassy their entire duration there.
The final hurdle for the group is getting past the Iranian security at the airport with their fake documentation. In the movie they get interrogated and then chased by some zealous Iranian security in a stressful sequence. In real life their flight left at 5:30am in the morning, and nobody stopped them. To quote the CIA, “the escape could not have gone better.”
Affleck rightfully fired back at this criticism and pointed out that the movie is BASED on a true story, so they are allowed to take some dramatic liberties with the story. I’d have to agree here - it’s a movie and would be exceptionally boring without any action. Sorry for the purists, but there’s a reason that biopic movies are often more entertaining than documentaries – they’re partly made up.
I’ve just written over a thousand words to conclude that a movie that won an Oscar for Best Picture is a good movie. Groundbreaking, I know. But if you haven’t seen this for some reason, do yourself a favour and check it out – the story is super entertaining and the acting is flawless.
Rating: 8/10
Additional research:
Tony Mendez – who’s novel is the basis for the film – claims that the phony Hollywood production office the CIA created in order to authenticate Argo as a film (named ‘Studio 6’) was so convincing that 26 scripts were sent to the office, including a Steven Spielberg picture.