Argo Review

Argo was an excellent movie.  Ben Affleck does such a great job in building the suspense throughout the film that by the time the end comes you are almost out of your seat.  I liked the way he used actual footage of a few of the events to give the film a more realistic feel.  There was one scene that used this method the best; when the Iranians were jumping over the walls to the United States Embassy.  The attention to detail is shown by having the person in the film wearing almost exactly the same clothing as the real life person.  This scene was taking place during the beginning of the film and it eventually led to six Americans escaping the frenzied crowd of Iranians while everyone else was taken prisoner.

It was scenes like those that helped to put me in the film.  I felt as though I was one of the Americans who was trying to get out of Iran during this turmoil.  SPOILER ALERT, if you do not want to know how it ends. The final scenes of the movie when the Americans were trying to sneak past the Airport security in Iran were the best in the whole film.  They had to pass about 4 or 5 different checkpoints and at each stop there was this feeling that they were about to be found out.  Eventually they get on the plane and as the plane is taking off, the Iranian military is speeding down the tracks to stop the plane.  It was during this scene I was able to feel the product of all the tension from earlier in the film just rush at me all at once. 

Argo felt kind of like a new age best picture winner in that it was not about a historical figure or major event in human history.  It was about one man trying to rescue six Americans out of an enemy country and the unorthodox way he did.  This film I believe is one of three that have a real shot at Best Picture.  If you would like to read my picks please do so on the Oscar Picks tab on our blog. I would give this film a 9/10 MUST SEE.  Thank you for reading.

-Harry McPhaul