Argo
2.5/4
Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Victor Garber
Rated R for Language and Some Violent Images
One has to give Ben Affleck credit for challenging himself. In all three movies he has directed ("Gone Baby Gone," "The Town" and "Argo"), he has chosen complex projects that demand a lot from a director. While I applaud his bravery, I can't do the same for his inability to create truly compelling films. Only his debut, "Gone Baby Gone," was a strong feature. "The Town" was a fairly generic action thriller that thought it was more original than it actually was. The fault with "Argo" is somewhat confusing narrative and acting that is way too low key.
In 1979, the people of Iran overthrew the corrupt Shah. The United States gave the Shah asylum in the US, which angered the Iranian people. Hundreds of people working for the US Embassy in Iran were kidnapped and taken hostage. Six of them, Bob Anders (Tate Donovan), Mark and Cora Lijek (Christopher Denham and Clea Duvall...Duvall is surprisingly good and not at all irritating like she usually is), Joe and Kathy Stafford (Scoot McNairy and Kerry Bische) and Lee Schatz (Rory Cochrane) escape and find a safe haven at the Canadian Embassy under the care of Ken Taylor (Garber) and his wife Pat (Page Leong). But the Canadians are anxious to get the hostages out of the embassy for their own political safety, but in the midst of a revolution, that's tough going. Enter Tony Mendez (Affleck), an "exfiltration" specialist who comes up with a bizarre idea on how to get them out: act like they're shooting a movie (no one in Iran knows the identities of the 6 hostages) with the hostages as members of the crew and after "scouting locations," all of them will leave on a public plane together with no one in Iran being the wiser.
The acting is flat. All the performers do their jobs, I suppose, but Affleck keeps them so low-key that it's almost impossible to feel anything for them. In order for us to become invested in the outcome (and for us to feel any suspense, this is crucial). Affleck is his usual low-key self, but we feel for him only because he has the most screen time. John Goodman and Alan Arkin are intended to provide comic relief as the makeup artist and producer sent in to help with authenticity, but the jokes aren't that funny and like everyone else, they're too muzzled by Ben Affleck.
Often times with big Hollywood productions, realism goes out the window with cheap theatrics and cliches. Affleck seeks to avoid this trend by keeping things understated and real. But Affleck goes too far; the energy level is comatose. There's a difference between low-key characters and performances and lifeless ones. Affleck is on the wrong side of the line. The film also suffers from a messy first act, which makes it even more of a struggle.
It's a shame really. The story is so fascinating, and there's some real suspense at the end of the film. But unfortunately the film is just too lacking in energy to recommend sitting through it.
Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Victor Garber
Rated R for Language and Some Violent Images
One has to give Ben Affleck credit for challenging himself. In all three movies he has directed ("Gone Baby Gone," "The Town" and "Argo"), he has chosen complex projects that demand a lot from a director. While I applaud his bravery, I can't do the same for his inability to create truly compelling films. Only his debut, "Gone Baby Gone," was a strong feature. "The Town" was a fairly generic action thriller that thought it was more original than it actually was. The fault with "Argo" is somewhat confusing narrative and acting that is way too low key.
In 1979, the people of Iran overthrew the corrupt Shah. The United States gave the Shah asylum in the US, which angered the Iranian people. Hundreds of people working for the US Embassy in Iran were kidnapped and taken hostage. Six of them, Bob Anders (Tate Donovan), Mark and Cora Lijek (Christopher Denham and Clea Duvall...Duvall is surprisingly good and not at all irritating like she usually is), Joe and Kathy Stafford (Scoot McNairy and Kerry Bische) and Lee Schatz (Rory Cochrane) escape and find a safe haven at the Canadian Embassy under the care of Ken Taylor (Garber) and his wife Pat (Page Leong). But the Canadians are anxious to get the hostages out of the embassy for their own political safety, but in the midst of a revolution, that's tough going. Enter Tony Mendez (Affleck), an "exfiltration" specialist who comes up with a bizarre idea on how to get them out: act like they're shooting a movie (no one in Iran knows the identities of the 6 hostages) with the hostages as members of the crew and after "scouting locations," all of them will leave on a public plane together with no one in Iran being the wiser.
The acting is flat. All the performers do their jobs, I suppose, but Affleck keeps them so low-key that it's almost impossible to feel anything for them. In order for us to become invested in the outcome (and for us to feel any suspense, this is crucial). Affleck is his usual low-key self, but we feel for him only because he has the most screen time. John Goodman and Alan Arkin are intended to provide comic relief as the makeup artist and producer sent in to help with authenticity, but the jokes aren't that funny and like everyone else, they're too muzzled by Ben Affleck.
Often times with big Hollywood productions, realism goes out the window with cheap theatrics and cliches. Affleck seeks to avoid this trend by keeping things understated and real. But Affleck goes too far; the energy level is comatose. There's a difference between low-key characters and performances and lifeless ones. Affleck is on the wrong side of the line. The film also suffers from a messy first act, which makes it even more of a struggle.
It's a shame really. The story is so fascinating, and there's some real suspense at the end of the film. But unfortunately the film is just too lacking in energy to recommend sitting through it.
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