"Argo," Ben Affleck's much acclaimed second directorial effort, is a fine film without much of a soul.
Affleck stars as Tony Mendez, a C.I.A. technical operations officer who is brought in to help exfiltrate six American diplomats from Iran in 1980. These diplomats managed to escape the American Embassy when it fell, avoiding what became the Iranian hostage crisis. With some help from Hollywood associates and the Canadian government, Mendez constructs a plan so stupid it just might work: fly to Tehran as a fake film producer and fly out of Tehran with the six hostages posing as his film crew.
At its heart, "Argo" is a straightforward historical caper. We know precisely how the story is going to go down, just as we know what types of tricks Affleck & co. are going to pull to create a sense of tension in the story they're telling. But what does "Argo" really add to the genre? What sets it apart from others of its ilk (including fellow Academy Award nominee "Zero Dark Thirty)"
For the most part, "Argo" doesn't exactly succeed at bringing anything new to the fore. The most intriguing aspect of the film is the titular fake film. "Argo," as it exists in the narrative, is a cheap Star Wars ripoff created with no shortage of Hollywood schmoozing and fakery. John Chambers (John Goodman) and Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin) are the make-up artist and producer who help Mendez get Argo off the ground. They are considerably more interesting than Mendez and his overall mission, but their story is basically a montage. Once Mendez arrives in Tehran, their story is over. It's a serious shame.
Most of the film is focused on Mendez, which makes sense, but he's not a very interesting character. Affleck spends most of the film looking either sullen or nervous. He doesn't have a great range of character. It seems Affleck realized this, and for some reason felt it necessary to shoe-in a small bit of personal drama about Mendez's personal life.The drama doesn't really land.
We hardly get to know the six hostages, but what we get to know of them builds the scant humanity in the story. They act bravely, on multiple occasions, in the face of detainment or worse. On multiple occasions, some even show emotion, which is more than Affleck managed. The highlight scene is when one helps them escape capture by showing off storyboards from Argo. It's a nice bit. Probably the nicest bit of the film.
The problem with "Argo" is that it's not a bad film, but it's a well made but bland film, without anything particularly special to recommend it. Beyond, of course, its directorial pedigree. Like "The Town" before it, "Argo" seems to be garnering critical attention largely due to Ben Affleck. It's like no one can believe that this pretty boy actor is capable of directing really decent, if not outstanding, cinema.