Argo Review

History lessons can be fun.

Full spoiler-free review by Isaac Handelman

Argo is somewhat of an anomaly. It’s startlingly intense, but never explodes into action. It recounts a historical event, but it feels fresh and exciting. It’s occasionally amusing, but never quite funny. It managed to land Alan Arkin, John Goodman and Bryan Cranston, but instead opts to center largely on a group of relatively unknown faces. Some of its quirky facets work better than others, but all in all, Argo can be counted as yet another Ben Affleck-directed winner.

The film takes place in 1979 and 1980, in the midst of the Iran Hostage Crisis. Argo wastes no time getting to the point; six American diplomats escaped the US embassy in Iran before it was overrun by Iranian extremists, who took most of the diplomats hostage. The six escapees have found refuge in the home of the Canadian ambassador, and now it’s up to CIA operative Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) and his associate Jack O’Donnell (Bryan Cranston) to figure out some way to get them out of the country without the knowledge of the Iranian government (or any of its populace, for that matter). Mendez calls upon the help of Hollywood makeup-artist John Chambers (John Goodman) to help him stage the production of a fake sci-fi movie called “Argo” in an attempt to sneak the diplomats out.

After a stunningly staged nail-biter of an opening scene, Argo takes a while to really pick up the pace, which may turn some viewers off. The film slowly builds in intensity throughout its runtime as it adds more and more variables to a situation that was already complicated to begin with. Despite what trailers may have you believe, the film isn’t really about the production of a fake movie -- that’s just the backdrop. No, the main draw here is the operation. This isn’t Ocean’s Eleven -- everything doesn’t fall into place exactly as planned. It’s not just a fun “get in, get out” action flick. There are lives at stake here, and the audience is never allowed to forget that. The weight of the situation is brought down upon the viewer like a dumbbell.

Which brings us to one of the film’s major stalling points: it occasionally forgets to be fun. Though it makes a few attempts at humor, most of which come off as at least amusing, Argo is never quite funny. That may sound like a minor quarrel, but for a film so rooted in the truth, no matter how difficult the truth is to come to terms with, the general lack of comic relief shines through a bit more than it would in your average drama. It’d be nice if the screenwriters had deflated the seriousness every once in a while and just let the audience breathe. This misstep is especially disappointing given the considerable comedic talent of Goodman, whose potential is never fully realized. 

Of course, this criticism is also a byproduct of Argo’s greatest strength, which is its focus. It dedicates itself to telling one story and telling it right. There are no pointless subplots or distracting love interests to be found. The film is, to put it simply, uncompromisingly devoted to its premise. As aforementioned, this is an occasional hindrance, but that’s a rare occurrence. For the most part, Argo’s dedication is of huge benefit to the film. For one, the late 70s/early 80s era is brought to the forefront of the proceedings; from the retro Warner Bros. logo that flashes before its start to the old newsreels that permeate the film to all the characters’ awesome ‘fros of yesteryear, Argo fully embraces its time period.

And, to top it all off, Argo actually manages to include a somewhat obvious moral without feeling sappy. I won’t go in to too much detail as to avoid spoilers, but by the film’s close it’s easy to feel just a bit touched or even inspired by said moral, even though it’s literally printed onscreen for the audience to read. That’s quite the accomplishment in today’s cinema landscape, when most films try to sneak in their morals with the most subtlety possible.

Argo functions like a carefully situated pot of water brought to a slow boil. It may be a tad slow to start, but its slow ascension towards brilliant intensity is great fun to watch. A few issues largely don’t distract from the superb performances, dead-on focus and intriguing historical ties the film boasts. If you somehow needed more proof that Ben Affleck knows what he’s doing in the director’s chair, this is it. Oh, and isn’t it nice to finally be rooting for Bryan Cranston for a change?

Final Score:

7.5/10

“Very Good”