The Town was the first movie I reviewed here at Jim's Fear back in 2010. Although I really enjoyed the film, I was more stoked that it redeemed it's star/director, Ben Affleck, who had spent most of the 2000's pissing me off in really shitty roles . Well, if The Town was Affleck's great comeback, Argo appears poised to be his great victory. It's a hell of movie and has some serious Oscar hype behind it.
cheers: to my comeback...and 70's wardrobe
On paper, Argo sounds like it should have been a horrible movie. It's a period film that's also a historical/political drama, based on actual events that are so insanely far fetched, mostly everyone involved in the real life incident couldn't believe it either. But somehow, someway, Affleck pulls this thing off masterfully.
So the film revolves around the Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979. More than fifty Americans were taken hostage when members of the Iranian Revolution stormed the United States Embassy in Tehran. During the chaos, six Americans managed to escape and hide at the Canadian ambassador's residence. The film's plot centers on how the CIA tries to get those six unfortunate souls out of Iran without getting them discovered and or killed by the Revolutionary Guard. Affleck plays the CIA spymaster who proposes that the hidden American diplomats pose as a Canadian film crew scouting locations in Iran. Argo is basically a movie about the development of a fake movie, where Americans pose as Canadians because they're trying to flee the the Iranians...all orchestrated by the CIA and some old Hollywood producers. Again, this sounds beyond retarded, but it actually happened and it worked!
crazy like a Fox
Despite all the craziness I just mentioned, Affleck has crafted a compelling, suspenseful and powerful film. The opening scene, the storming of the embassy sequence, sets the tone for the entire film. Mixing archival news footage with some awesome handheld camera work, Argo achieves an amazing sense of realism. The sets, props, wardrobe (viva those ugly late 70's get ups) and kick ass classic rock soundtrack (Aerosmith, Dire Straits...Van Halen!) made me feel like I'd time traveled back to the Carter years. Everyone in the cast did an amazing job, from the six hostages in exile who slowly start to go crazy, to Affeck's CIA and Hollywood homeboys who back him up throughout the film (Bryan Cranston and John Goodman are great...in everything), even Affleck himself is pretty believable as the CIA's top extraction specialist. I just have a problem with him acting and directing his films. I know he's the director (and now, certifiably a great one at that) so when I see him on screen I imagine him directing himself in the same outfit and it just pulls me out of the movie. At least that's what happened in The Town...not as much during Argo.
That's probably because I was too busy sitting on the edge of my seat the whole time. Yes, I wasn't kidding when I said Argo was suspenseful. As a History geek, I pretty much already knew how the movie ended, yet I was hooked from start to finish. I kept marveling at how Affleck had me by the balls every time I fought the urge to use the restroom. It's really that suspenseful. Go see it.
Holy Jesus, Ben Affleck is back from the dead. It's been a looooong time Ben. Good Will Hunting, Chasing Amy, Dogma, even the so hokey its awesome Armageddon...those were all in the 90's bro. Sadly, the 2000's were NOT kind to Mr. Affleck. A decade of crap films (THIS) and tabloid relationships (Ben + JLO = Bennifer?) turned Matt Damon's hetero life mate into a walking punchline and the recipient of many taco flavored kisses.
Poor Ben tried turning things around by the decades end. His portrayal of a suicidal Superman in 2006's Hollywoodland wasn't altogether terrible and he directed the hell out of the critically acclaimed Gone Baby Gone the following year but he still hadn't dug himself out of the massive shit hole he had created (although he made me laugh pretty hard in his small role in Mike Judge's Extract).
So now it's 2010 and with this new decade comes a fresh start...and what a fucking start it is! The Town is a suspenseful drama the likes of which I haven't experienced in some time. Equal parts lovey drama and cops & robbers heist flick, The Town is about a motley cr(ue)w of Irish bank robbers whose lives get flipped turned upside down when Dougie (Affleck), falls in love with the bank manager from one of their heists. Blake Lively and Rebecca Hall are cute as hell, while The Hurt Locker's Jeremy Renner steals the fucking show as Doug's psycho bff Jem. The dude from Mad Men (Jon Hamm) does an adequate job in his role as the stereotypical FBI agent who really hates the bad guys ("gotta catch em all...") but honestly, the only real patchy acting role in this film is once again, ol' Ben Affleck himself. Of course Affleck's drab (Keanu Reeves inspired?) performance is still, easily, his best piece of work all decade; and really it's his directing and writing skills that are off the hook in this movie. The bank robbery scenes are insane, a cross between Heat and Point Break, while the Bostonian drama elements are reminiscent of Mystic River and The Departed. Affleck isn't reinventing the wheel here, but his directorial work in The Town shows he steals from the best.
