Ben Affleck is an oddball. Never appealed to me as an actor, but I began to know him as a young guy who wrote a film and won an Oscar with Matt Damon! Good Will Hunting - yep, exceptionally well written. So I knew he had a good mind for films, but well, his acting was third rate. Very recently I read somewhere that he was being considered as the director for the "Justice League" film!!! And I thought, what??? Ben Affleck of all the people.
And so I started doing research, to find out that Affleck had made 2 films already, and they were supposedly really good.
The Justice League one still remains speculation, but when I heard about ARGO, I just knew I had to check it out. And Ben, didn't let me down! Argo is a fascinating tale based on real life events of a covert CIA operation in Iran! It's based on the 1979 Iran Hostage crisis. Revolutionaries were irate with the US and they stormed into the US embassy in Iran and held everyone hostage for 444 days! But the story is not about the captured ones. It's about 6 US nationals who escaped from the embassy and found refuge in the house of a Canadian diplomat. It's about how CIA got them out safely. And the plan was completely whacko!
What's great about this movie, is that it brings you up to speed with history pretty quickly and steps into the story almost immediately. The screenplay is extremely tight and tension starts from the very first scene. Fictional dialogues, visuals are quickly interspersed with real News pieces from that era and you begin living he experience. You believe that they are going to get away somehow, but when you see the plan a CIA operative has to get them out, you say NO WAY! It's against all odds. The tension snowballs as you go past midway and keeps you at the edge of your seat.
But not everything is tense. Some dialogues, the way scenes are shot give you some relief from the tension and makes you believe they will be safe! Essentially, its a drama cum thriller and gives you a very authentic feel of the tension. The movie that comes to mind is Munich! Yep, this one's not as complex, but even though its simple, the screenplay really keeps you bound to your seat. The actors, the production value, the set designs, the background score, the atmospherics, the authenticity of the era and the setting is spot on and Ben Affleck excels as a storyteller.
What doesn't leave a lasting impression is Ben's acting. He is good, but he had scope for great! Tom Hanks could have taken it to fantastic I guess. His limited ability, does make his character a little uni-dimensional.
Ok, lemme say it. It is one of the best films of the year and you cannot miss it. It's got something for everyone. It's not too serious, nor too complex, nor is too tense, also has thrills, drama and keeps you engaged. Watch whatever other crap you wanna see this week, but you have to watch this one too! arGO treat yourselves!
Rating: 8/10
And so I started doing research, to find out that Affleck had made 2 films already, and they were supposedly really good.
The Justice League one still remains speculation, but when I heard about ARGO, I just knew I had to check it out. And Ben, didn't let me down! Argo is a fascinating tale based on real life events of a covert CIA operation in Iran! It's based on the 1979 Iran Hostage crisis. Revolutionaries were irate with the US and they stormed into the US embassy in Iran and held everyone hostage for 444 days! But the story is not about the captured ones. It's about 6 US nationals who escaped from the embassy and found refuge in the house of a Canadian diplomat. It's about how CIA got them out safely. And the plan was completely whacko!
What's great about this movie, is that it brings you up to speed with history pretty quickly and steps into the story almost immediately. The screenplay is extremely tight and tension starts from the very first scene. Fictional dialogues, visuals are quickly interspersed with real News pieces from that era and you begin living he experience. You believe that they are going to get away somehow, but when you see the plan a CIA operative has to get them out, you say NO WAY! It's against all odds. The tension snowballs as you go past midway and keeps you at the edge of your seat.
But not everything is tense. Some dialogues, the way scenes are shot give you some relief from the tension and makes you believe they will be safe! Essentially, its a drama cum thriller and gives you a very authentic feel of the tension. The movie that comes to mind is Munich! Yep, this one's not as complex, but even though its simple, the screenplay really keeps you bound to your seat. The actors, the production value, the set designs, the background score, the atmospherics, the authenticity of the era and the setting is spot on and Ben Affleck excels as a storyteller.
What doesn't leave a lasting impression is Ben's acting. He is good, but he had scope for great! Tom Hanks could have taken it to fantastic I guess. His limited ability, does make his character a little uni-dimensional.
Ok, lemme say it. It is one of the best films of the year and you cannot miss it. It's got something for everyone. It's not too serious, nor too complex, nor is too tense, also has thrills, drama and keeps you engaged. Watch whatever other crap you wanna see this week, but you have to watch this one too! arGO treat yourselves!
Rating: 8/10
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