There comes a time in any actor's life when he has to realize that he's no longer loved or respected as the actor he once was. I believe this time came for Ben Affleck somewhere around the Gigli/Daredevil/Surviving Christmas era. But, instead of deciding to say screw off to all the naysayers, Ben did the respectable thing of stepping back. He no longer chose to star in another movie for a good long while. He'd take bit comedic parts in Clerks II or Extract (amazing) to kind off pull a Justin Timberlake on us and make us like him again. Then, he tried his hand at directing his first film, Gone Baby Gone, which, God bless him, he didn't even star in himself. He let his brother do it! And the movie was great. You could watch that movie and appreciate Affleck for the new director that he is and not the waste of acting Pearl Harbor space that he'd become. Finally, he snapped back into acting in a lead role with his written/directed The Town, which for all intents and purposes is his best movie. Affleck was now the comeback kid. He'd instilled himself back into Hollywood as a reliable figure once more.
So, needless to say when I saw the trailer for Argo, having heard nothing about it before, I was excited. With only two directorial movies under his belt, I had complete and utter faith in Affleck as a director. And as a director, he did not let me down. As an actor... well... we'll get to that. Argo tells the true story of six fugitive American diplomat personnel hiding out in Iran during the 1979 Iran Hostage Crisis. Affleck stars as Tony Mendez, the CIA operative tasked with getting them out safely. His plan: producing a fake science-fiction movie entitled Argo, getting it backed by a producer, make-up artist, financier, and disguisng the six fugitives as people involved with getting the movie filmed. It's awesome because had this not been an actual historical event, the plot of this movie could've easily been produced as a wacky Sacha Baron Cohen backed movie.
What's great about the film is that whether you know the end result or not, it's still incredibly tense almost the entire way through. Much like Valkyrie, historically every one knows the conclusion of that story, but while it's happening on screen in front of you, you still question whether or not events are going to transpire the correct way which leads to high tension. Affleck does a superb job behind the camera filming the movie on regular film instead of digital to give it that grainy late 70s look. The set design, the wardrobe, make-up and everything are all on par with what you'd expect from a movie in that era, which makes sense considering Affleck took a lot from All The President's Men.
John Goodman and Alan Arkin, as always, are fantastic in their minor roles. Arkin plays the foul-mouthed dinosaur of a producer who lends the film it's comedic brevity it needs to break the tension so the audience may have a second to catch their breath. Everyone, even Bryan Cranston, does a fine job in the film, but if I had to point out a weak-link it would be Affleck, himself. The initial idea for Argo was that Affleck would stay behind the camera and Mendez would be played by Brad Pitt, however scheduling issues arose and Pitt would not be available for the shoot. If this original plan had been executed as it was intended, I believe the end result would be nothing short of a perfect movie. But, since Pitt was unavailable, Affleck stepped in as the lead role. And while he's nothing like his Pearl Harbor/Armageddon self, he's still very stale in the role. It's almost as if he was more concerned with directing the film that when it was his time to be in front of the camera, he phoned in his lines and actions only to get out of there as quickly as possible. There's almost no emotion to Affleck's Mendez. There's no real character there. He's soft-spoken, to the point, and about as hollow as one could be in a starring role.
Affleck has lost no credibility in the director's chair as far as I'm concerned. I anxiously await his next project because I'm sure it'll be nothing short of gold. But, unless he's writing another Boston-set heist movie, he may want to decide to stay in that chair and let someone more capable handle the acting. Argo is a well paced, thriller that refuses to let go until the very last scene. I realize I'm a little late in getting to seeing this movie and recommending it, but as well as it is still in theaters, I'd recommend getting to see it before it is gone.
B+
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