Review: Watch the powerful 'Argo'

Film: Argo
Director: Ben Affleck
Cast: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman
Rating: ****

Opening with the red and white Warner Brother's logo from the early 1970s, Argo explains in brief the political friction between the United States and Iran which escalated into a hostage crisis in Iran.

All but 6 diplomats get holed up in the US Embassy by Iranians irate with the nation's sheltering of the Shah of Iran. With the Iranians reassembling shredded documents to find out the identities of the missing diplomats, can America ensure their return in one piece? Enter Tony Mendes aka Kevin Harkins (Affleck), an 'exfiltration' expert whose foresight is met with scepticism in Washington.

Affleck, playing the bearded protagonist, proves canny at balancing the film's dark nature with lighter moments. On one hand there's nail-biting drama about the fate of the escapees while on the other Arkin and Goodman, pros at comedy, lighten the atmosphere with their quips on the American film industry. But how does the entertainment industry come in the picture? Because Mendes' proposal to involves a fake Hollywood sci-fi blockbuster!

While films about making films (or faking the making of films), to this reviewer, can be as much fun as political thrillers, the gravity is not lost with the seriousness of the diplomats' plight surfacing time and again.

Cranston is dependable as ever as Affleck's supervisor and possibly his only support system – he's in an estranged relationship with his wife. Aiding Mendes in his desperate quest for authenticity, Goodman and Arkin as legendary make-up man John Chambers and filmmaker Lester Siegel make the film buoyant.

With witty zingers flying around more than bullets, Argo, at some points, feels like the funniest non-satirical political film out there.

If you want to see the vilification of the United States for its historic double-handedness, this film is not for you. Rather than standing on a soapbox about his country’s foreign policy, the lead characters is absorbed with the task at hand.

 However rather than portraying a West Asian race as barbaric, its highlights the excesses of political upheaval.

Watch Argo for the interesting handling of a period political drama and the powerful performances.