Covert tops

Picture it...the year was 1980. I was a mere speck in my parents' eyes as the world was in turmoil thanks to unrest in Iran that led to several U.S. embassy employees to be taken hostage. A few select Americans managed to avoid capture and fled to the nearby home of the Canadian ambassador. Though free, these individuals have no was of getting out of the country without being recognized as the missing embassy workers. Realizing this, the CIA must find a way of safely bringing them back home.

This sets the stage for Argo, the terrific film by Ben Affleck who is turning into quite the polished director despite only having three films under his belt. He has managed to turn a story that most people already know the outcome into one of the most thrilling, gripping stories in a long time. Part of that is due to the stranger than fiction approach that the CIA used in order to extricate these people

Affleck also stars as Tony Mendez, the man who comes out with the wild rescue plan. Mendez works with a producer in Hollywood (Alan Arkin) in order to create a fake movie. Mendez then travels to Iran under the guise of wanting to shoot scenes in the country. He then pretends that the embassy workers are members of his crew in order to bring them back with him. Argo refers to the name of the fake movie.

With the way the film is constructed, you really get three films in one. One story involves Mendez's time in Hollywood trying to put all of the pieces together for this fake movie. Along with Arkin, these scenes also feature John Goodman playing a visual effects expert who serves as a sort of liason between Washington and Hollywood. Being a film lover, I truly enjoyed these scenes and the ability to see some of the inner workings of the film industry. It turns out it's pretty easy to earn buzz for a film, even a fake one.

The second story involves the drama and political maneuvering taking place in Washington. We see a lot of hesitation from some of the political bigwigs to go along with Mendez's plan. They even pull the plug on the whole plan at a critical point, which provides some great tension. Bryan Cranston, who plays Mendez's boss is simply terrific here. You feel the dilemma he goes through between appeasing the higher ups and supporting Mendez.

Finally, we get the scenes in Iran. One of the most impressive things about this film is that Affleck does not simply paint them as the 'evil foreigner'. We understand their perspective on this matter. In that way, we see how tenuous of a situation the Americans were in. These were people who felt very strongly about their beliefs and wanted an injustice (from their perspective) rectified. I have no doubt that some creative liberties were taken when depicting the effort to get these Americans back home, but when the end result is such a captivating film, you don't really mind.

Regardless of how familiar you are with this story, I whole-heartedly recommend that you check it out. Affleck does a great job of transporting you back to this period of history. The costuming and music are authentic. Actual news footage is also expertly interwoven into the film. You will find yourself just as captivated with this film as you were with the actual events back in the day. And given the Oscar buzz that this movie is receiving, I'm clearly not alone in thinking this. This is one history lesson you'll have no problem staying awake through. Grade: A