Argo
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Director : Ben Affleck
Adapted from : The Master of Disguise by Antonio J. Mendez and The Great Escape by Joshuah Bearman
Actors : Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman and others...
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Overall : 8.0/10
Direction : 8.0/10
Acting : 7.5/10
Cinematography : 9.0/10
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Ben Affleck is the man of the moment. Argo is has been nominated for a whooping 7 Oscars this year, including the Best Picture and Film Editing. The movie has already brought Affleck a Golden Globe for Best Director (Motion Picture).
Argo is not your simple edge-of-the-seat thriller. It is much more than that. It is a case study of nationalism, extremism and last, but not the least, the power of cinema (howsoever fake it gets). No wonder the Oscar committee loved it.
The movie revolves around the very famous escape of 6 American diplomats stuck in Iran and the out-of-the-freaking-world thinking behind the successful operation to rescue those six souls. For those of you who don't know much about this crisis, the gist is as follows : Iran overthrew the puppet Prince installed by the States, there was a revolution, the mob attacked the US Embassy in Iran and an unprecedented number of Americans were held hostage there. Only the six mentioned above could manage to escape to the Canadian Ambassador's house in Iran, living in fear and the constant threat of bloody deaths.
Affleck directs with honesty, capturing the tension between the two countries (America and Iran) in a very matter-of-fact way. There is something darkly comic about the entire movie - the shift from the extravagance of Hollywood to the public hanging of Americans in Iran is sudden; almost as if it's thrust in your face, to put you out of your comfort zone. The sweet contradiction between the two faces of the US, one, all shining and bright, and the other, at the mercy of revolutionaries, is smartly depicted.
The acting lets down the movie a bit. I can think of a number of actors who could have been perfect for some of the roles.
However, I won't be shocked if Argo ends up winning 'THE' Oscar. It's good enough for that coveted statuette.
Maybe that's how Affleck is compensated for not getting the much deserved Best Director nod by the judges.
Official Trailer
Argo is not your simple edge-of-the-seat thriller. It is much more than that. It is a case study of nationalism, extremism and last, but not the least, the power of cinema (howsoever fake it gets). No wonder the Oscar committee loved it.
The movie revolves around the very famous escape of 6 American diplomats stuck in Iran and the out-of-the-freaking-world thinking behind the successful operation to rescue those six souls. For those of you who don't know much about this crisis, the gist is as follows : Iran overthrew the puppet Prince installed by the States, there was a revolution, the mob attacked the US Embassy in Iran and an unprecedented number of Americans were held hostage there. Only the six mentioned above could manage to escape to the Canadian Ambassador's house in Iran, living in fear and the constant threat of bloody deaths.
Affleck directs with honesty, capturing the tension between the two countries (America and Iran) in a very matter-of-fact way. There is something darkly comic about the entire movie - the shift from the extravagance of Hollywood to the public hanging of Americans in Iran is sudden; almost as if it's thrust in your face, to put you out of your comfort zone. The sweet contradiction between the two faces of the US, one, all shining and bright, and the other, at the mercy of revolutionaries, is smartly depicted.
The acting lets down the movie a bit. I can think of a number of actors who could have been perfect for some of the roles.
However, I won't be shocked if Argo ends up winning 'THE' Oscar. It's good enough for that coveted statuette.
Maybe that's how Affleck is compensated for not getting the much deserved Best Director nod by the judges.
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Official Trailer
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