It is not stretching to say that Ben Affleck has really found where he belongs and that place is in the director's chair. If you have not seen Gone Baby Gone or The Town, do yourself a favor and seek them out. Both are tight, well written, well crafted thrillers. Affleck showed a knack for capturing the blue collar world of the Boston area in both films, which should not come as a surprise since he grew up in that area. After years of being a Hollywood joke, Affleck has really transformed himself into an A List director. Argo does not seem like a logical next step for him, and that is why I was so stoked for it. Expanding his scope could give Affleck a real chance to shine even brighter.
Argo opens with one of the more intense opening scenes you are going to find. Set in the late 1970's and early 1980's, Argo gets off to a stellar start. After a quick comic book style exposition sequence catching us up, we open on the American embassy in Iran being overrun by the angry Iranian people. 6 members of the embassy escape, and the rest are taken hostage. They will remain hostages until the United States returns the exiled former leader of Iran who has gained asylum in America, since America put him in power in the first place. cut to 69 days later and in comes Tony Mendez(Affleck). Mendez is the C.I.A's best man at getting people out of sticky situations and it is time to get those 6 people who escaped and having been hiding at the Canadian embassador's house in Iran. If they are found, they will surely be killed. The State department wants to send in some bikes and have the 6 people bike to the border where they will be picked up. Mendez comes up with the crazy idea of having them pose as a film crew scouting locations. Mendez heads to Hollywood and with the help of a make up wizard (John Goodman) and a veteran producer (Alan Arkin)sets up a fake production company, finds a script for a Science Fiction fantasy film called Argo, and then Mendez has to head to Iran to get the people out. If they are unsuccessful, death is a forgone conclusion.
The last time my heart pounded more during a movie, it was The Hurt Locker. The climatic sequence, spanning roughly 25 minutes was some of the most intense I can recall. The pacing is exquisite all the way through, but towards the end, the pacing was so perfect, I was exhausted when the final credits rolled. Affleck just knocked it out of the park with this film. The performances are great, the script is excellent, but it is everything else that is just perfect. First of all, the look of the film is brilliant, grainy yet focused. The set dresser deserves all of the awards. Everything you see on the desks, the walls and in the houses is perfectly placed and looks perfectly 1980's. The costumes, facial hair, and sets are perfectly out of that decade. The attention to detail is phenomenal. It really enhances the experience. You are immediately placed exactly where you need to be to understand the world of the film.
However, great set dressing and costumes do not make a movie. They enhance it, but in order to really have an affecting movie, you need characters, motives and an emotional pulse. This movie has all of those in spades. Mendez is the only character we spend an extended amount of time with, but the actors playing the 6 escapees all do great work giving us individual characters with desires and hopes. It raises the stakes that it is a real story, and I had no idea the outcome, so that helped the suspense as well. Goodman and Arkin give the film a comic jolt to balance the intensity of the Iranian moments. Goodman has really found his groove over the years in these bombastic supporting roles where he just waltzes through a few scenes and gives them life. I am excited for Flight this weekend.
Affleck infuses Argo with a keen eye for camera shots. He loves to give us tight closed shots of people and objects. We rarely get pulled back from the action. He wants to put us in the action. The camera hovers, but never overtly shakes. It is just enough to make us a part of what is going on. He and his editor do a great job of splicing shots together. We get these intense images of the rough Iranian hostage situation, that leave a remarkable impression without seeming too much. His camera never lingers longer than it needs to. He has become a total pro.
The life and death stakes make the climax one for the ages. Every look is important, any wrong move could mean the firing squad or a public hanging. Affleck captures every single moment flawlessly. I was literally on the edge of my seat for the final 25 minutes. My heart was racing and I was pleading with the characters to keep their cool and trust in Mendez to do his thing. You will be hard pressed to find a more realistically intense climax in cinema this year or in many previous years. By setting his scope higher and pushing himself, Affleck has assured himself a spot as a top director in Hollywood. Honestly, if he is not nominated for best director this year, I will be shocked. This movie is completely his. It is a directorial wonder.
