Among my favorite aspects of cinema occurs when someone unearths a particularly fascinating bit of history and then recreates that history in a well-made movie.  When this happens history comes alive as drama that transcends personal experience to reveal ourselves to us, for better or for worse.  Often both, in the same story.  Argo, based on the real experiences of six Americans who escaped the American Embassy in Iran when it was overrun in 1979, only to hide for months in the Canadian Ambassador’s residence while awaiting rescue, is the most recent example of this style of filmmaking, delivered with excellence by star and director Ben Affleck.

Affleck, whose previous films Gone Baby Gone and The Town displayed real talent, has taken the next step with Argo, creating a drama with lots of humor that tells a gripping, hard-to-believe story with genuine feeling and artistry.  It does not fully escape the conventions of a thriller but manages to work within them to construct suspense even though the outcome should be perfectly obvious.  With this film, it is an inescapable fact that Ben Affleck has entered into the top ranks of American film directors.  And after his 2003 trifecta of flops as an actor — Daredevil, Gigli and Paycheck — who ever would have imagined that?  Good for him.

Argo splits its focus between the hostages themselves, cautious, bitter and fearful, and a late governmental response to the news that they have escaped the embassy. Affleck paints the Feds as bunglers, but mines a great deal of humor from this approach.  He spends perhaps too much time on the Hollywood material at the expense of the “Houseguests” stranded in Iran, but there is no denying that the business of setting up a fake movie is fascinating stuff, especially when enacted by John Goodman and Alan Arkin.  By comparison, the men and women awaiting rescue are mere ciphers.  However, once Tony Mendez (Affleck) arrived in Iran to single-handedly bring them out, the film regains its balance and the tension skyrockets.

Affleck plays his role with as little emotion as possible, which allows the more flamboyant portrayals to engage the audience.  I really liked Bryan Cranston in a very standard “boss” role to Affleck’s agent; Cranston invests his character with real grit, especially when things start to go wrong.  Arkin is hilarious as the producer who agrees to help Tony Mendez create the ruse.  Look for Argo to be nominated for quite a few awards over the next few months because it deserves to be; however, its greatest achievement is to introduce us, in a very entertaining manner, to history heretofore hidden from public knowledge.  This is what movies can do best, provided that the task is taken seriously.  ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2.  17 October 2012.