Argo - 2012

Chandler - 3/4/13

I saw this movie in the theater last year, but now that it won Best Picture, I imagine they'll add it to The List in the next revision.

Argo was OK. Ben Affleck did a great job as director and a mediocre job as the lead character. The problem with this movie is they didn't have much to work with. It's an excellent real-life story that is better fit for a History Channel special. Almost every interesting aspect (outside the initial embassy raid) was stretching the true events of the operation. You know how this movie ends, and the way they show it is overly desperate for some drama that didn't exist. It made me roll my eyes.

John Goodman and Alan Arkin are excellent, and really save the film.

But if you want to watch historical non-fiction about Muslims kidnapping white people... watch Munich. It's a much better story with actual conflict. Argo is a poor man's Munich.

Rating - 2