Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Biding my time until he teams up with Bill Cosby for "Cos and Affleck": "Argo"


I don't know if I can pinpoint my low point with Mr. Benjamin Geza Affleck. I fortunately managed to sidestep the worst, never seeing "Forces of Nature," "Bounce," "Gigli" or "Jersey Girl," and turning off "Pearl Harbor" in the first 20 minutes or so. True, I did see "Phantoms," but we all know he was the bomb. And I actually have a soft spot for "Daredevil," between Colin Farrell having fun as a villain and Jennifer Garner kicking butt in a bustier.

Anyway, this is all to say I know Affleck took his lumps as a would-be marquee idol and hit bottom at some point. I just can't say when. What I do know is that we are witnessing his high point (so far) right now. And if you had told me 10 years ago that he would be a director whose movies I would always pay good American dollars to see, without question, I would have said, no, you cannot join in any "Reindeer Games."

By now, just about everyone knows the deal with "Argo." Affleck directs and stars in the sort-of true story about six Americans trapped in Iran in the late 1970s after the Shah is exiled and the Ayatollah takes over. Unlike many more at the U.S. Embassy, these six are hiding in the Canadian ambassador's house, and therefore possibly extractable. Which is good because they eventually will be arrested and likely killed if the CIA doesn't figure out how to smuggle them out. Fortunately, our man Ben comes up with an idea just crazy enough to work: Pretend you're a Canadian film crew scouting locations for a cheesy sci-fi film, and then just walk everyone onto the return flight home.

So that's the set-up, and it results in a somewhat different but often thrilling movie. First we get the uprising in Tehran and the hiding of the Americans, with a few familiar faces; I picked out Tate Donovan right away and Clea DuVall a little later but totally missed Rory Cochrane. Back in the U.S. we see the bigger names -- not only Affleck but Walter White from "Breaking Bad" and Coach Taylor from "Friday Night Lights."

Once they figure out the fake movie deal, "Argo" takes a left turn that totally works, with Affleck hooking up with John Goodman and Alan Arkin as Hollywood insiders who can pull this off -- not just the movie but all the stuff that goes with it, e.g. a production company, press event, etc. It's hilarious and fascinating at the same time, and before long Benny is off to Iran, ready to bring our folks home.

This understandably is where the laughs end and the tension grows, although it's worth noting that Affleck includes moments of humor, some of them built around the idea of these six people from the Foreign Service being asked to play a film crew. The last part of the movie shows a race against time to get everyone out as the Iranian police are closing in. And if you don't think there's a chase at the airport, then you just don't know Hollywood.

If there's a quibble with "Argo," that's it: Some of this isn't historically accurate and has been sexed up to heighten the drama. And of course that's the case, especially when the rubber meets the road in the last 45 minutes or so. But did they say these six people got out when they actually didn't? No. Did they substitute the Canadians for the British? No. Did many of the men have awesome mustaches? Yes. In the end, I'm OK with Affleck saying, "Hey, we can fudge this a bit and tell an exciting story without being totally wrong."

In all, a really good movie that takes a historical event and turns it into a great story. After "Gone, Baby, Gone" and "The Town," Affleck shows he can go outside Boston and make an Oscar-caliber movie. And yes, he has arrived as a Director to Respect. I know there have been others to reach this stage by age 40, but I don't think it's been many, and certainly not after several years of acting. Even Eastwood was older than 40 before he did a turn in the director's chair, and his first efforts were merely OK. (And that's before the double whammy of "Bronco Billy" and "Firefox.") If Affleck keeps this up, I'll be more willing to look past all those 10-82s ...

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