site serif; font-size: small;”>Joesph Gallagheradvice serif; font-size: small;”> finds out if Hollywood can save the world
viagra serif;”>Ben Affleck’s third outing as a director makes certain to take its place alongside his previous two efforts in proving that Affleck is suited to helming more first-rate Hollywood movies for some time to come.
Argo sees Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck), a former CIA operative, attempting to rescue six diplomats from Tehran during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis by means of a fake science fiction movie entitled, ‘Argo’. Affleck is joined by a string of highly regarded supporting actors that include: Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, and John Goodman.
The performances in this piece are terrific all round. Affleck and Cranston provide utilitarian performances; Arkin and Goodman provide the showier stuff. Credit is also due to the realism achieved by casting six relative unknowns as the diplomats.
The screenplay by Chris Terrio, who previously directed Heights (2005), is soaked in cold-sweat tension and implausible situations that even the most persnickety viewer will disregard come the exciting climactic sequence. The directing is mature and Affleck is continuing to prove that he certainly has the directing chops. An example of the maturity can be seen in a prologue made up of cartoons and documentary footage that lays out what led to the departure of the Western-supported Shah and the arrival of the Ayatollah Khomeini and fundamentalist Islam. But Affleck isn’t afraid to direct the hell out of it at the same time and does so by quickening its pace to great effect and zooming in on its darkly comic humour.
Credit is also due the lengths this movie goes to achieve a sense of time. The fashions are spot-on as are the various pieces of apparatus that are used throughout the movie such as phones and copying machines. The inclusion of the old Warner Brothers’ logo and the relabeling the studio’s water tower set the time. Rodrigo Prieto’s cinematography further adds to that seventies’ vibe.
Argo is one of the best movies of the year and it will certainly feature in this year’s awards season. Ask yourself: what could be more pleasing to voters than a movie that not only appeals to audiences and critics alike, but also suggests that Hollywood can, in fact, save the world?
