Argo (2012)

A dramatization of the 1980 joint CIA-Canadian secret operation to extract six fugitive American diplomatic personnel out of revolutionary Iran.

Director:

Ben Affleck

Writers:

Chris Terrio (screenplay), Tony Mendez (based on a selection from "The Master of Disguise" by),

Stars:

Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin

Won 3 Oscars. Another 63 wins & 64 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ben Affleck	...	Tony Mendez
Bryan Cranston	...	Jack O'Donnell
Alan Arkin	...	Lester Siegel
John Goodman	...	John Chambers
Victor Garber	...	Ken Taylor
Tate Donovan	...	Bob Anders
Clea DuVall	...	Cora Lijek
Scoot McNairy	...	Joe Stafford
Rory Cochrane	...	Lee Schatz
Christopher Denham	...	Mark Lijek
Kerry Bishé	...	Kathy Stafford
Kyle Chandler	...	Hamilton Jordan
Chris Messina	...	Malinov
Zeljko Ivanek	...	Robert Pender
Titus Welliver	...	Bates

Storyline

In 1979, the American embassy in Iran was invaded by Iranian revolutionaries and several Americans were taken hostage. However, six managed to escape to the official residence of the Canadian Ambassador and the CIA was eventually ordered to get them out of the country. With few options, exfiltration expert Tony Mendez devised a daring plan: to create a phony Canadian film project looking to shoot in Iran and smuggle the Americans out as its production crew. With the help of some trusted Hollywood contacts, Mendez created the ruse and proceed to Iran as its associate producer. However, time was running out with the Iranian security forces closing in on the truth while both his charges and the White House had grave doubts about the operation themselves.

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Plot Keywords:

canadian | hostage | cia | ambassador | u.s. embassy | 

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Taglines:

Based on the exaggerated true story.

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Genres:

Drama | History | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some violent images

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Persian

Release Date:

12 October 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Escape from Tehran

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$44,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$19,458,109 (USA) (12 October 2012)

Gross:

$136,019,448 (USA) (19 April 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, GK Films, Smokehouse Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min 130 min (Extended Version)

Sound Mix:

SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character of Jack Kirby (played by Michael Parks), shown briefly as the artist of the storyboards for the fake movie, is the same Jack Kirby who was a pioneer of the American comic book industry and a co-creator of such seminal comic book characters as Captain America, Iron Man, The Hulk, the Silver Surfer, and the teams known as The Avengers, The Fantastic Four, and The X-Men. Kirby did indeed create storyboards for the adaptation of Roger Zelazny's novel Lord of Light, which were used as "proof" of the movie production during the real-life "Canadian Caper."

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Goofs

Tony Mendez boards his flight at Dulles International Airport via a jetway. There were no jetways at Dulles in 1980: passengers rode mobile lounges or walked across the ramp to get to their flights.

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Quotes

John Chambers: [after hearing of the plan to get the hostages out] So you want to come to Hollywood, act like a big shot...
Tony Mendez: Yeah.
John Chambers: ...without actually doing anything?
Tony Mendez: Yeah.
John Chambers: [smiles] You'll fit right in!

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Crazy Credits

The movie opens with the 1970s-era Warner Bros. slash logo that eventually became the logo of Warner Music, which was designed by Saul Bass, instead of the traditional shield logo. However, the corporate copy below the logo refers to Time Warner, the current incarnation of Warner Communications since 1990, in the same typeface that was used decades ago.

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #21.70 (2013)

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Soundtracks

"Concrete Jungle"
Written by Roddy Byers (as Rod Byers)
Performed by The Specials
Courtesy of EMI Records Ltd.
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music

User Reviews

Good movie but took a lot of liberties

This is a great movie. The story, acting, pacing, editing, etc. was just fantastic. Affleck's directing was solid, and the suspense will keep you entertained right through to the last seconds. I loved it.

It did have one irritating thing, though, kind of a big one. It pointed most of the accolades to Affleck's character and the CIA. This really was not true. It was Ken Taylor and the Canadians who really pulled 'the Canadian Caper' off so successfully.

"When Taylor heard a few years ago that Mendez had sold movie rights to his book (which, to be fair, is much more generous than the movie about Canada's role), "I said, 'Well, that's going to be interesting.'...."The movie's fun, it's thrilling, it's pertinent, it's timely," he said. "But look, Canada was not merely standing around watching events take place. The CIA was a junior partner."

"The old postscript sent the message that, for political reasons, Canada took the credit. A sarcastic kicker noted that Taylor received 112 citations. The clear implication was that he did not deserve them."(Sept/Oct., 2012, thestar.com)".

So the USA does another revision on history here. I believe 'Argo' goes this far. Yes, it's based on a true story - the movie does it's best to allude that it sticks to technical accuracy. And it really does, in some ways. Historical pictures of flag burners, rioters, gate climbers, etc.. up against Argo film stills run by during the credits make it seem that the facts were adhered to down to the tiniest detail. In reality, it wasn't Tony Mendez or the CIA who were responsible for the success of this operation; actually they were barely there.

Since the movie premiered, Ben Affleck has added emphasis on the movie postscripts since then that gives kudos to the Canadians' role. This was after Ken Taylor politely complained, as a Canadian would tactfully do. But Affleck did this only after pressure from Taylor himself.

I can understand the need to spice up events to make them as exciting and entertaining as possible, don't get me wrong. But this film needs to let the audience know that more explicitly than it does, even after the changed postscripts.

Still, a really entertaining and riveting film, very well done, and easily worth seeing. As a matter of fact, don't miss it.