Argo (2012)
TOMATOMETER
Critics Consensus: Tense, exciting, and often darkly comic, Argo recreates a historical event with vivid attention to detail and finely wrought characters.
Critics Consensus: Tense, exciting, and often darkly comic, Argo recreates a historical event with vivid attention to detail and finely wrought characters.
Trailer
Photos
ADVERTISEMENT
Movie Info
Based on true events, Argo chronicles the life-or-death covert operation to rescue six Americans, which unfolded behind the scenes of the Iran hostage crisis-the truth of which was unknown by the public for decades. On November 4, 1979, as the Iranian revolution reaches its boiling point, militants storm the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage. But, in the midst of the chaos, six Americans manage to slip away and find refuge in the home of the Canadian ambassador. Knowing it is … More- Rating:
- R (for language and some violent images)
- Genre:
- Mystery & Suspense , Drama
- Directed By:
- Ben Affleck
- Written By:
- Chris Terrio
- In Theaters:
- Oct 12, 2012 Wide
- On DVD:
- Feb 19, 2013
- US Box Office:
- $136.0M
Cast
-
Alan Arkin
as Lester Siegel -
John Goodman
as John Chambers -
Bryan Cranston
as Jack O'Donnell -
Taylor Schilling
as Christine Mendez -
Tate Donovan
as Bob Anders -
Clea DuVall
as Cora Lijek
Related News & Features
Argo Videos
Photos
Friend Ratings
No Friends? Inconceivable! Log in to see what your friends have to say.
LoginCritic Reviews for Argo
All Critics (266) | Top Critics (50) | Fresh (255) | Rotten (11) | DVD (4)
Entertaining and suspenseful in old-fashioned ways.
Affleck himself turns in a quietly impressive movie star performance. Tony Mendez is a kind of anti-Bourne, comfortable with his anonymity, living off his wits, not his fists.
With Affleck's continued growth as a director, it makes you want to see what he will deliver next.
For 100 minutes, 'Argo' is close to flawless.
'Argo' is one of the best movies of the year.
Argo has that solid, kick-the-tires feel of those studio films from the 70s that were about something but also entertained. Only it's as laugh outright amusing as it is sobering.
While the plot of Argo sounds too unbelievable to be true, this fact-based story ends up as both compelling and as exciting as any adventure James Bond ever had.
By not pandering sentimentality, Affleck has managed a task that, like its subject, seems impossible: He's taken what others would have turned into farce and emerged with one of the year's best pictures.
Ben Affleck's wildly entertaining thriller Argo is further proof of the old Hollywood adage that fiction is stranger than truth after all.
The film hits most of its comic notes on the backs of two Hollywood old-timers played by Alan Arkin and John Goodman, who clearly relish the opportunity to lampoon people they work with every day.
This is mature, invigorating stuff, alternately tense, funny, stirring and ultimately very satisfying.
This is premium, breathless entertainment.
A superior effort in which Affleck seldom fails to maintain suspense.
The film, for all its ample smarts and solid academic craft, is just a great time at the movies.
... a terrific piece of filmmaking.
Ben Affleck is one of this generation's best directors and "Argo" is a tight, engaging thriller.
Argo is director Ben Affleck's weakest effort by far, but still a well-made, performance-driven historical drama.
The only reason to watch Argo is because it's heavily padded, and while it works pretty well regardless, I wouldn't hold that up as an example of high quality filmmaking.
Ben Affleck is a director who appreciates the art of storytelling and masters the rare virtue of restraint...
The sky's the limit for Ben Affleck right now, and its nothing less than he deserves.
Affleck spins the absurd true story into an engrossing espionage thriller that would be utterly ridiculous if the stakes weren't literally life-or-death.
After Gone Baby Gone, The Town and now this directorial-best, Affleck is establishing himself as a major craftsman.
Affleck inserts such thoughtful commentary and ideas unobtrusively into his film; there's no ideological ball-peen hammer from the filmmaker to drive his beliefs into the audience.
Argo expertly builds tension and makes you wonder whether the mission will succeed.
Audience Reviews for Argo
It's a simple movie, a film about a ride to the airport really. But Affleck makes no mistakes ... not a one in this telling of a true international event, a crisis, and therein the charm. The locales, the actors, the writing, the pacing, everything done nigh perfectly (nearly Hitchcockian!), all built to a cohesive whole that's as nerve wracking as any film could be. Must see.
MoreSuper Reviewer
Super Reviewer
"Argo" plays loose with with the facts, but that's ok. As a piece of historical-based fiction, it's bested by few other. Ben Affleck keeps his cinematic streak alive with what is in many ways his best film to date. He delivers a film so clear, so precise that we don't simply view the events unfolding; we live them. The film strikes a balance of grit, humor and intensity without ever feeling less than authentic. Even though we know where the narrative is going, "Argo" has a payoff that hits home and all the right notes. You get a sense from "Argo" that for Affleck... it's only up from here. He's a commanding force to be reckoned with, both in front of and behind the lens . For the third time he has made one of the very best films of the year. This time, I don't think "Oscar" will forget to take notice.
MoreSuper Reviewer
Argo Quotes
- Lester Siegel:
- History starts out as farce and ends up as tragedy.
- Jack O'Donnell:
- We're a spy agency! Find him!
- Lester Siegel:
- If I'm doing a fake movie, it's gonna be a fake hit.
- John Chambers:
- We did it!
- Lester Siegel:
- There are suicide missions with better odds than this.
- Lester Siegel:
- We did it!
Discussion Forum
Discuss Argo on our Movie forum!