'Argo'

Ben Affleck's Argo takes us back to 1979, more precisely to the Iranian revolution, the overthrow of the shah and the consequential taking hostage of the body of staff of the American embassy in Tehran. Out of these, six manage to escape and seek refuge in the house of the Canadian ambassador and his wife.

Meanwhile, in the US, authorities are helpless as to how to, not only free the hostages, but furthermore get those six out of the country with Iranian revolutionaries scanning every corner of the streets for Americans. A battle against time ensues and CIA agent Tony Mendez is enlisted as the top go-to-extrication-guy.

After some ludicrous suggestions as to how to get them out, ranging from posing as teachers when all the schools have been closed by the Ayatollah, to getting them bikes to cycle a mere 300 miles, Merndez comes up with 'the best of the bad ideas'. Based on the simple question: Who's crazy and self-indulgent enough to travel to a country in the throes of a revolution? Only one answer presents itself: Hollywood. A plan is born. Mendez sets up a a fake movie, complete with producer and film production office, in order for the six refugees to pose as a Canadian film crew (presumably because Canadians are more likeable, even in the Middle East, note, however, how the production itself is still from Hollywood). Mendez convinces the Iranian authorities that they're looking to shoot a ludicrous Science Fiction film called 'Argo' in the Iranian desert and mountains.

Based on true events as related by Tony Mendez himself in a magazine feature, Argo presents a solid, unflashy portrayal of the exfil mission, even if the real Mendez still found Affleck's take on the events to be slightly over-dramatic, but that's Hollywood for you. The feel of the film is one of 70's crime thriller, however, not in a aesthetically self-indulgent manner, but authentically so, as if one was watching a film from the 70's rather than watching a post-modern homage to the 70's, if you get my drift. The iconography is one of dirty beige and greys, smoky without being glamorous. Think Tesco on a Monday night in 1978, tinned baked beans and yellow moustaches rather than Sean Connery having a fondue in Aspen, on New Year's Day, with a blonde, playing the flute, in a red jump suit...atmospherically speaking, of course.

Anyway, Affleck plays Mendez himself, he seems to be attracted to the 'decent guy' variety, world-weary and melancholic, but with an ever-so-firm belief in what is right. There's a whiff of the self-righteous about him, but the performance is beautifully understated and humanly grounded. Affleck manages to infuse the character with some real depth, a character which otherwise might have been in great danger of succumbing to yet another vessel for patriotic exclamations and unequivocal motivations. There's a few of those what I like to call 'Oh, Come On!' moments, as when Mendez decides to give his real name and history to two of the six embassy employees in order to convince them to escape with the rest of them. Really? What agent would risk it? And couldn't he have made up a fake 'real' name and history? Apart from these minor motivational hiccups, every character is well drawn, especially for the limited space every figure is granted. I was especially impressed by Scoot McNairy whose performance is of one much older than his actual age.

The atmosphere is tense and decidedly level-headed, at times even claustrophobic. Enter the counter balance: The Hollywood connection. It is an absolute delight to watch John Goodman and Alan Arkin play off each other, a bit like watching a game of table tennis. Here's to comic relief. Affleck even allows a few stabs at himself in, for example, having Arkin declare that 'You could teach a rhesus monkey to direct a film in a day'. At the same time, even if they're cynic about the Hollywood industry or poke fun at the business, it is done with an affectionate regard of one who belongs to the inner circle. As if to say: Look: In Hollywood we're big enough to laugh at ourselves, Haw, haw, haw. Both Goodman and Arkin play the Hollywood types with obvious glee, only to become serious in times of national crisis as if to show that, in the end, they're Americans first and Hollywoodians second. Nevertheless these Hollywood sequences are well integrated within the overall structure and save the film from being overly matter-of-fact and pronounced.

The Iranian revolutionaries coincide with the Hollywood stereotype of the dirty, loud, fanatic, uncultured Middle Eastern. The only redeeming Iranian character is the housemaid of the Canadian ambassador. Now, it is always tricky to portray an anti-Western revolutionary from a Western perspective, but one has to ask: Was the Iranian people in its entirety exactly on the same page as the revolutionaries taking the hostages in the embassy, or might there be the slight possibility that not the entire Iran is of a fundamentalist frame of mind? I am not attacking Affleck as he does a decent job of an immensely difficult portrayal, nevertheless I would have welcomed an introduction of some representatives of the Iranian people within the overall plot structure as well as the terror this regime instilled within the natives.

With the Bond franchise well and alive and the latest instalment in the cinemas at the same time as Argo, it proves almost impossible not to draw parallels, or rather state differences. I have to say, Bond does feel awfully gimmicky after Mendez' self-effacing realism. One does tend to forget that the highest virtue of an agent is invisibility, not flashy cockiness. As such, Mendez is not the guy to get the girls, no, he's average Joe on the verge of a divorce, although, as a concession to film aesthetics, with slightly better abs.

The overall feel of the film is one of taking its audience seriously, which is a relief. Affleck manages to tell a rather unbelievable series of events in a calm and surprisingly uncomplicated manner, without ever descending into banality. It does not bare thinking about what someone like Emmerich would have made of this script. All the while, one of the most distinguishing features of the film, and indeed, Affleck as a film-maker, is the playful handling of the suspense element. Both in 'The Town' and his first feature 'Gone Baby Gone', Affleck is most skilful in having his audience sit on the edge of their seat. Most of the nail-biting tension is induced by crafty editing and the solid sobriety of the mise-en-scène, which makes the imagery ever more powerful. The extrication scene at the end will have your stomach in a knot, that I promise you and the only slight reproach I have is that Affleck never left it there. In all his previous films as well as this one, one major hindrance to truly great work crystallises: namely the inability to end his film at the right time and on the right tone. As such, the end drags on for too long as if Affleck is reluctant to let his characters go and also to 'explain' what the film wanted to 'say' in the first place. This is a real shame, as the spectator was treated with obvious respect to his/her own capabilities throughout the text, only to be slightly patronised at the end. Also the tone descends from one of intelligent commentary to one of emotional patriotism. Still, even the last ten minutes cannot spoil the experience of an affecting and astute thriller, skilfully handled and firmly setting Affleck on the plan of politically motivated and intelligent film-making. (Yes, yes, mention of Clooney dutifully included right here, who, by the way, functioned as executive producer on this film. Now go away and don't bore me!)

Attention to detail, dark humour, grown-up plot and character treatment, understated realism, simple thus believable plot structure, 70's thriller iconography, and nail-biting suspense, make Argo one of the unexpected highlights of the autumn releases.