Argo

A strong yet uneven effort, Argo follows CIA man Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) as he attempts to extract six Americans out of revolutionary Iran using somewhat unconventional methods. It’s a strong premise that is, at the outset, employed by filmmaker Affleck to exceedingly promising effect, as the director, working from Chris Terrio’s screenplay, does a superb job of establishing an atmosphere of irresistible authenticity – with the pervasively captivating feel heightened by the efforts of an eclectic cast that includes, among others, John Goodman, Alan Arkin, Bryan Cranston, and Kyle Chandler. The better-than-average nature of the movie’s opening half hour ensures that the middling midsection is, as a result, especially disappointing, with Affleck’s unhurried sensibilities resulting in a bloated vibe that’s compounded by a growing prevalence of uneventful stretches (ie too much of the movie is devoted to sequences in which characters are either waiting for something to happen or plotting the climactic escape). There’s little doubt, then, that Argo‘s third-act transformation into a full-bore thriller isn’t quite as seamless as Affleck has surely intended, with the filmmaker’s almost excessively manipulative attempts at generating suspense and tension subsequently, for the most part, falling flat. It’s clear, having said that, that Argo does remain completely watchable from start to finish due mostly to Affleck’s now-expected prowess behind the camera, with the overlong running time ultimately hindering the movie’s inability to rise to the superlative heights of Gone Baby Gone and The Town.

*** out of ****