‘Argo’ features the kind of story that’s too good to be true, and the fascinating part is that its story is true! The Iranian Hostage Crisis is probably an incident most of us are not knowledgable about. I definitely had no clue until this film that such an incident ever occurred! In 1979 Islamic militants stormed the U.S. embassy and took 52 Americans hostage. This lasted for 444 days, but this film isn’t about the hostages – it’s about the six Americans who escaped the embassy before it was taken over.

Enter Tony Mendez, a successful CIA extractor who’s skilled at getting people out of intense situations. His plan to smuggle the six Americans, who are currently hiding in the Canadian ambassador’s home, involves creating a fake Canadian movie company to create a fake science-fiction film called ‘Argo’, in which the “filmmakers” would scout exotic locations such as Iran, while in actuality the escaped Americans will be sneaking back home. It’s a risky plan, ludicrous even! But this actually happened in history, and ‘Argo’ (this film, not the fake one), for the most part, tells it as it happened.

After barely getting approval for his bad idea, Tony Mendez acquires the help of famed Hollywood makeup artist John Chambers (John Goodman), who did work on ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Planet of the Apes’, and Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin), a big-time Hollywood producer. Mendez uses the two to bring credibility to his fake film. A cast is hired, storyboards are made, and promotional posters are even made public. After the cast’s first table-read of the “Star Wars ripoff,” the press falls for the plan and begin extensive coverage on the film’s production.

Though the mission is extremely serious and even life-threatening, ‘Argo’ is never short on laughs. The jokes are usually made by Goodman and Arkin’s characters, Hollywood types who know the business and are hysterically cynical about it. Their determination to make ‘Argo’ as believable as possible plays up laughs. “If I’m going to make a fake movie it’s going to be a fake hit!” says Arkin’s character.

The majority of ‘Argo’ feels historically accurate, though because it is a movie the third act was definitely manipulated to feel more dramatic, ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ in essence. It’s the final step of the mission, in which Mendez, who flew to Tehran to train and teach the six Americans in the field of filmmaking, attempts to get the Americans on board an airplane. The airport is full of security and armed guards. The plan feels like it will fall apart at any second. As the crew face one obstacle after another, the suspense keeps you on the edge of your seat, even though history knows how this plan will eventually end. This final half hour is extremely intense and thrilling and is a testament of how much we actually care that these men and women escape.

Besides Goodman and Arkin, the supporting cast is full of talented actors such as Bryan Cranston (‘Breaking Bad’) as the CIA chief who backs Mendez’s plan, Victor Garber as the Canadian ambassador who risks his life to protect the six escaped Americans, and Chris Messina (‘The Newsroom’) and Kyle Chandler (‘Super 8‘) who play CIA operatives who have mixed opinions on the ‘Argo’ plan.

‘Argo’ is Ben Affleck’s third time behind the camera, after ‘Gone Baby Gone’ and ‘The Town’. Like Clint Eastwood himself, Affleck shown that he can be just as talented on screen as he is off screen. He’s made a strong and capable film that both informs and entertains. Affleck made sure to make ‘Argo’ an apolitical film. It doesn’t present Americans as solely the good guys, nor the Iranians as solely the bad guys. An introductory story board explains to the audience the complex situation the ordeal was and why the Iranians would behave the way they did. The film showcases the benefits of international cooperation between governments to which America was truly thankful for.