Argo

America, the greatest nation of the world. In some people´s eyes this is how they feel. And what other country have such a great impact on the world like America has ? Politics, culture, health, America seems to have the answers for everything. But then there are issues where America have had problems for many years. Especially in politics, and war issues. One of the best political scandal movies of all time, is without a doubt All The President´s Men, with Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford. The story of 2 newspaper reporters investigating the Watergate scandal with Richard Nixon was both intriguing, and very interesting. That a president could get away with almost anything is shocking. Argo is a movie, based on a true story in Iran in 1979. Ben Affleck, mostly remembered for his earlier movie days, have changed his career in a remarkable way, with movies like Hollywoodland, and The Town, people respect him more than ever, both as an actor and a director. Argo is nominated for 7 academy awards, is Argo worth every nomination, or is this not as good as we would hope ?

On November 4, 1979, militants storm the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran, and take over 50 people hostage. 6 people manage to escape the building, and hide in the home of the Canadian embassador Ken Taylor ( Victor Garber ). CIA specialist Tom Mendez ( Ben Affleck ) is contacted to attend a meeting, where he is informed what the situation is at this moment in Tehran. Tom have an idea, to get in and rescue the hostage, he propose that they should pretend make a fake movie, in Tehran, to be able to save the hostage without being suspected. The idea is at first criticised, but the board realise it might actually work. Tom and his supervisor Jack O´Donnell ( Bryan Cranston ) contact Hollywood make-up artist John Chambers ( John Goodman ). John have helped the CIA before arranging disguises. He  approves helping Tom Mendez and his team. They name the movie project Argo, a sci fi movie. As Tom arrives in Iran with his team, he poses to be a producer of Argo, to secretely get in contact with the 6 people hiding in Ken Taylor´s home. Tom provides them with Canadian passports and fake identities, to prepare them to get through security at the airport. Will their identities be revealed ? 

Praise Ben Affleck. He is now one of the best directors around, The Town was excellent in many ways, Argo is even better. This is one of the best political thrillers in many years, the style reminds me of Sidney Poitier, it´s honest and very detailed in every piece of the puzzle. The fact that this actually happened in Iran in the 70´s makes everything even more interesting. Director Ben Affleck does not only deliver behind the camera, but also proof why he is a very talented actor in the lead role. The rest of the cast works very well in this intensive story. The fact that they actually tried to make a fake movie on location, to save the hostage, was a very daring move, but maybe the only chance to actually do something about the situation. Argo is without a doubt one of my favourite movies in a long time. This is the quality i wish more movies would deliver more of. Definitely worth buying on blu ray, and put this one next to All The President´s Men. It is without a doubt great to see that intelligent motion pictures still are being made, especially based on real life events in the past history.

Rating: DDDD