Argo (2012) ~ Free Movies for You

Argo is a 2012 historical drama thriller film directed by Ben Affleck. This dramatization is adapted from the book The Master of Disguise by CIAoperative Tony Mendez, and Joshuah Berman's 2007 Wired article "The Great Escape" about the "Canadian Caper", in which Mendez led the rescue of six U.S. diplomats from Tehran, Iran, during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis.

The film stars Affleck as Mendez with Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, and John Goodman in supporting roles, and was released in North America to critical and commercial success on October 12, 2012. The film was produced by Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck, and George Clooney. The story of this rescue was also told in the 1981 television movie Escape from Iran: The Canadian Caper, directed by Lamont Johnson.

Upon release, Argo received widespread acclaim and also received seven nominations for the 85th Academy Awards and won three, for Best Film Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Picture. The film also earned five Golden Globe nominations, winning Best Picture – Drama and Best Director, while being nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Arkin. It won the award for the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the 19th Screen Actors Guild Awards with Alan Arkin being nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role. It also won Best Film, Best Editing, and Best Director at the 66th British Academy Film Awards.

Directed by: Ben Affleck
Produced by: Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck, George Clooney
Screenplay by: Chris Terrio
Based on: The Master of Disguise by Antonio J. Mendez, The Great Escape by Joshuah Bearman
Music by: Alexandre Desplat
Cinematography: Rodrigo Prieto
Editing by: William Goldenberg
Studio: GK Films, Smokehouse Pictures
Distributed by: Warner Bros.
Release date(s): August 31, 2012(Telluride Film Festival), October 12, 2012(United States)
Running time: 120 minutes
Country: United States
Language: English, Persian
Budget: $44.5 million
Box office: $229,369,150

Cast

Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez
Bryan Cranston as Jack O'Donnell
Alan Arkin as Lester Siegel
John Goodman as John Chambers
Tate Donovan as Robert Anders
Clea DuVall as Cora Lijek
Christopher Denham as Mark Lijek
Scoot McNairy as Joe Stafford
Kerry Bishé as Kathy Stafford
Rory Cochrane as Lee Schatz
Victor Garber as Ken Taylor
Kyle Chandler as Hamilton Jordan (White House Chief of Staff)
Chris Messina as Malinov
Željko Ivanek as Robert Pender
Titus Welliver as Jon Bates
Bob Gunton as Cyrus Vance (United States Secretary of State)
Philip Baker Hall as Stansfield Turner (Director of Central Intelligence)(Uncredited)
Richard Kind as Max Klein
Richard Dillane as Peter Nicholls
Keith Szarabajka as Adam Engell
Michael Parks as Jack Kirby
Tom Lenk as Rodd
Christopher Stanley as Tom Ahern
Page Leong as Pat Taylor
Taylor Schilling as Christine Mendez
Ashley Wood as Beauty
Barry Livingston as David Marmor, CIA official
Sheila Vand as Sahar
Omid Abtahi as Reza
Karina Logue as Elizabeth Ann Swift
Adrienne Barbeau as Nina
Fouad Hajji as Komiteh

Story

Diplomats at the United States embassy in Tehran look out their windows in increasing concern as protesters rally outside the embassy gate in anger over the CIA involvement in Iran. As militants begin climbing over the gate, all documents are ordered to be destroyed, while American soldiers stationed at the embassy attempt to hold off the crowd with tear gas and smoke grenades. However, their incinerator burns out, forcing them to shred the rest of the documents. Just as the militants barge in and start taking hostages, six diplomats manage to escape via a back door. Among them are Robert Anders (Tate Donovan), Cora Amburn-Lijek (Clea DuVall), Mark Lijek (Christopher Denham), Joseph Stafford (Scoot McNairy), Kathleen Stafford (Kerry Bishé), and Lee Schatz (Rory Cochrane). They sneak through the back streets of Tehran and go to both the British Embassy and the New Zealand Embassy in search of a hiding place before being accepted by Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor (Victor Garber). With the escapees' situation kept secret, the US State Department begins to explore options for exfiltrating them from Iran. Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck), a CIA exfiltration specialist brought in for consultation, criticizes the proposals, but is at a loss for an alternative. While on the phone with his son, he is inspired by watching Battle for the Planet of the Apes and begins plans for creating a cover story for the escapees being Canadian filmmakers scouting for exotic locations in Iran for a similar science-fiction film.

Mendez and his supervisor Jack O'Donnell (Bryan Cranston) contact John Chambers (John Goodman), a Hollywood make-up artist who has previously crafted disguises for the CIA. Chambers puts them in touch with film producer Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin). Together they set up a phony film studio, publicize their plans, and successfully establish the pretense of developing Argo, a "science fantasy" in the style of Star Wars, to lend credibility to the cover story. Meanwhile, the escapees grow frantic inside the ambassador's residence. It is discovered that the Iranian maid, Sahar, (Sheila Vand) knows about the escapees. Unsure whether or not she can be trusted, they realize that their hiding days are numbered. Back at the invaded American Embassy, revolutionaries discover while reassembling the remaining shredded documents, including Photos of the diplomats, that there had been six diplomats who had escaped.

Mendez flies out to Istanbul where he receives his fake ID and passport. Then, posing as a producer for Argo, Mendez goes to the Iranian Embassy, receiving a visa. Then he flies into Tehran and links up with the six escapees. He provides them with Canadian passports and fake identities to prepare them to get through security at the airport. Although afraid to trust Mendez's scheme, they reluctantly go along with it, knowing that he is risking his own life too. A scouting visit to the bazaar to maintain their cover story takes a bad turn, but their Iranian culture contact gets them away from the hostile crowd. Unknown to the group, a hidden camera had snapped photos of them.

Mendez is told that the operation has been cancelled to avoid conflicting with a planned military rescue of the hostages. He pushes ahead, forcing O'Donnell to hastily re-obtain authorization for the mission to get tickets on a Swissair flight. Mendez and the escapees arrive at Mehrabad International Airport and get through security with ease. Tension rises however when a group of security guards begin asking them questions at the gate. To double check that the group was actually working for a film company, one of the guards call the supposed studio in Hollywood, and is answered at the last second. Convinced, the guards allow the group to board the plane. Meanwhile, the photos that were taken by the hidden camera at the bazaar are presented to the lead militant at the American Embassy who immediately discovers that the photos match up with the reassembled photos of the escapees, that had been shredded. The guards at Mehrabad Airport are notified just as the plane begins to taxi to the runway. the guards climb into trucks and drive out onto the airfield where they are accompanied by several Tehran police cars just as the plane starts to take off. They drive onto the runway alongside the plane as it begins to gain speed, in an attempt to stop the take off. The pilot however does not notice and proceeds to take off, effectively saving Mendez and the escapees.

To protect the hostages remaining in Tehran from retaliation, all US involvement in the rescue is suppressed, giving full credit to the Canadian government and its ambassador (who left Iran with his wife under their own credentials as the operation was underway; their Iranian housekeeper, who had known about the Americans and lied to the revolutionaries to protect them, escaped to Iraq). Mendez is awarded the Intelligence Star, but due to the classified nature of the mission, he would not be able to keep the medal until the details were made public in 1997. All the hostages were freed on January 20, 1981. The film ends with former President Jimmy Carter's speech about the Crisis and the Canadian Caper.