Argo

Cast: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman
Director: Ben Affleck

Argo is simple. It's about sneaking out six Americans out of Iran through a Hollywood movie cover up. The plan is insane, and it worked. Ben Affleck managed to take a simple but complicated story and turn it into an amazing film. The build up was rather slow, but it was thrilling to see the entire event unfold; it even had me at the edge of my seat at one point. No wonder this has been raking in awards; it's smart, thrilling and interesting.

I don't want to dive into the plot further, but what makes Argo a great film is that even in its simplicity, it's thrilling. Affleck manages to bring the viewers in the middle of the siege without spending too much time on the backstory. It was well-written, the dialogue leading the audience to believe that there is a sense of danger if the operation goes sour. The build up was slow, but it constantly gains momentum, leaving moments of danger. While this has the predictability factor to it, what made it interesting was how the events unfold, to see what they did and how they did it.

Argo also had a great cast with a great on screen chemistry. They were all able to provide what the role called out for, putting every detail of the script to place. While no specific actor stood out for me, it's the way they all blended together, not one person out of character, that made the film work. The premise of a Hollywood movie cover up story is crazy, and they all lead us to believe that the plan was crazy.

The latter part of the film kept me on the edge of my seat. When the operation went to process, it was thrilling, knowing that the soldiers may be near to discovering where the Americans are, or already near to foil the operation. At the start, the outcome was already obvious, and yet the film still managed to keep the outcome from sitting near our mind with all the close calls. The flow of the film allowed the viewers to see the operation from both sides, albeit it didn't focus on the Iranian side much, the film keeps its viewers updated to where the Iranians are in that point, with finding out that six aren't accounted for and all that. Emotions were running high at the end of the film, and even I found myself wanting to fast forward because I can't take all the tension of not knowing what will happen next.

Argo has managed to astonish its viewers with the way that it was crafted. Ben Affleck did a really great job with the material, the cast was amazing, the script was well written. It's thrilling down to the bone. I loved it.