Argo (2012)

“If I’m doing a fake movie, it’s gonna be a fake hit.” Lester Siegel

Number of Times Seen – 3 (25 Nov 2012, 21 Feb 2013 and 13 Nov 2013)

Brief Synopsis – A CIA operative must find a way to smuggle 6 American diplomats out of Iran when the US Embassy is overtaken.

My Take on it – The movie is done really well.  It includes many of the elements needed for a movie to succeed.

-It has a believable storyline (it’s based on a true story)

-It has political intrigue both within the US government and on foreign soil. (hostage crisis)

-It has colorful, memorable characters (Hollywood insiders help perpetuate the daring plot)

Hollywood loves movies made by their own actors and this movie is no exception.  Ben Affleck created a great movie with an atmosphere that really draws the viewer in and the fact that it was so embraced by all of Hollywood says a lot.  It’s interesting tho that the one group who didn’t embrace him, (the Director’s branch of the Academy who didn’t even give him the nomination), actually helped propel this movie to Best Picture by shunning him from their race.

This is a great movie, but it is in no way the best movie of 2012, that belongs to Les Miserables (2012), but the Best Director controversy worked in this movie’s favor.

John Goodman and Alan Arkin are both great here as the Hollywood insiders tasked with helping the CIA to perpetrate this most daring plan.

Winner of 3 of 7 Oscars.  It won Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay and Editing.  It lost Best Supporting Actor (Arkin), Sound Mixing, Sound Editing and Original Music Score.

It’s notable that this is the first time since Driving Miss Daisy (1989) won Best Picture that the Director of the eventual winner wasn’t even nominated.

Bottom Line – Very good movie. Great mix of Hollywood insiders, political intrigue and real life events. Highly recommended!

Rating – Oscar Worthy