Argo
October 20, 2012
4 stars out of 5
Based loosely on the true story of six hostages who were NOT held in the American Embassy in Iran back in 1979, this is one exciting movie, starring and directed by Ben Affleck. He surrounded himself with a boatload of terrific character actors (although I don't know where he came up with the CIA directors). Alan Arkin and John Goodman get callouts as the terrific comic relief. Regular readers know how much I hate long movies--this one is just over two hours. But for a change, that seemed the right length for the story. Well told and exciting, despite the fact that we know how it ended (well, we do if we read the papers or listen to podcasts). Definitely a cut above run of the mill.
Based loosely on the true story of six hostages who were NOT held in the American Embassy in Iran back in 1979, this is one exciting movie, starring and directed by Ben Affleck. He surrounded himself with a boatload of terrific character actors (although I don't know where he came up with the CIA directors). Alan Arkin and John Goodman get callouts as the terrific comic relief. Regular readers know how much I hate long movies--this one is just over two hours. But for a change, that seemed the right length for the story. Well told and exciting, despite the fact that we know how it ended (well, we do if we read the papers or listen to podcasts). Definitely a cut above run of the mill.