Iranian revolutionaries attack the American embassy in Iran during
1979. All but six of the
workers inside the embassy were taken hostage. The six who escaped walked outside and down the street to
the Canadian embassy. Now the
problem is how to get them out of the embassy and out of Iran. Tony Mendez is an extractor and he’s
called in to come up with a plan for a cover to get them out. Many ridiculous ideas are tossed about,
they were inspecting crops (snow covers the ground), they are teachers (there are
no foreign teachers in Iran) or they are scouting locations for a Hollywood
movie. The CIA decides, unwilling,
to go along with movie plan, this plan must fool the Iranians and the entire
world. Tony enlists two trusted
contacts in LA to help him complete the cover details. They set up an office, create a
Canadian film production company, buy the script, cast actors and obtain
publicity.
This film seems like it is happening in real time and you wonder how
Tony plus the six embassy workers can stand the pressure, terror and
stress. It’s life or death with
seven lives on the line plus the Canadian Ambassador and his wife. Either they will succeed and be
applauded or they fail and the CIA is blasted for thinking this idea could ever
work? 4 ½* (I really liked this
movie)
120 min, Drama directed by and starring Ben Affleck with Bryan
Cranston, John Goodman, Alan Arkin Victor Garber, Tate Donovan, Clea DuVall, Scoot McNairy.
Note: Blockbuster
4*, imdb 8.0 out of 10, 96% critic 93% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.
Special Note: I
think it was a mistake by the Academy Awards in not nominating Ben Affleck for
Best Director since Argo was nominated and won Best Picture. Actors giving other actors awards in a
popularity contest instead of merit based voting.
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