Argo: Ben Affleck's polarising, Oscar-winning drama comes to Netflix
ARGO (13+, 120mins) Directed by Ben Affleck ****
Sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction.
Thanks to CIA files declassified in 1997, in 2012, Hollywood was finally able to tell the tale of how an Oscar-winning make-up artist helped rescue six American embassy officials trapped in Iran in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Shah and the rise of Ayatollah Khomeini.
As this tightly wound, adroitly put together drama explains, the operation was a fine example of international co-operation and the global embrace of American science- fiction in the late 1970s.
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At the centre of our story is extraction expert Tony Mendez (a magnificently understated Ben Affleck, who also directs). He's called in to assist as the embassy hostage crisis enters its third month and Iranians begin to suspect that not all of the US embassy staff are hostages.
The Secretary of State and others favour liberation by bicycle (it's 300 miles to the nearest border), or posing them as student teachers (despite the last international school closing months earlier). However, inspired by watching Battle for the Planet of the Apes, Mendez believes the only way to rescue the sextet from their temporary safe haven at the Canadian ambassador's Tehran residence is for Mendez to enter the country, gain the appropriate permits and have them all pose as members of a Canadian film crew.
With the help of Apes' Oscar-winning artist John Chambers (John Goodman) and veteran producer Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin), Mendez finds the perfect cover vehicle – a real $US20m Star Wars rip-off called Argo that has been dropped by its studio. But first, they have to get the film rights.
As Siegel says, "You're worried about the Ayatollah? You haven't met the writers' guild". Yes, Affleck's film is as much about the politics of Hollywood as it is about religion and government.
Although its tone and look (that includes extensive use of archival footage) is clearly from producer George Clooney's school of directing (as is Affleck's beard), Argo evokes memories of Boogie Nights and Munich, along with its obvious stylistic template Good Night, and Good Luck.
Affleck is skilful at combining fact with his "fiction" – a real highlight being a scene juxtaposing a read-through of the script with Iranian pronouncements about the American government's actions.
Affleck and then debutant screenwriter Chris Terrio also find ways of leavening proceedings through wry humour. ("Hollywood would shoot in Stalingrad with Pol Pot as director if the resulting film sold tickets, " observes one CIA agent).
However, the real strength of Argo is also its one significant flaw.
Like his earlier directorial efforts Gone Baby Gone and The Town, Affleck again shows an amazing ability to wring every last drop of tension out of a scene. Here, as the Iranian authorities close in and the escape plan hits critical, he really will have you on the edge of your seat. An onscreen ringing phone hasn't created as much discomfort since The Matrix.
But in creating all this "stress", there's just a feeling that authenticity starts to come a distant second.
As things reach a crescendo, there's a touch of U-571 to events, (Americans claiming the plaudits for other people's work) more than a hint of cartoon villainy from the Iranian forces and a sense that the time compression has been slightly overplayed.
This is a real shame, because while Argo may seem like a flag-waving, jingoistic tale, it actually boasts a subversive streak, drawing parallels between Iran then and Iraq in the early 2010s and seemingly unafraid to poke the Carter, Bush and Obama administrations.
Affleck also deserves credit for casting virtual unknowns in the roles of the Tehran six.
Students of history will find plenty to carp about, which does slightly spoil the overall effect, but as a searing slice of entertainment Argo is hard to fault.