‘Argo’

After his two knockout thrillers “Gone Baby Gone” and “The Town,” one could suppose Ben Affleck figured it was time to bump it up another notch by directing and starring in what is, by far, one of the most thrilling, entertaining and important films of 2012.

The film is called “Argo,” and it covers the events surrounding the historical CIA mission to rescue six U.S. diplomats who were trapped at the home of the Canadian ambassador in Iran during a hostage crisis between 1979 and 1980.

In the film, the man heading up this mission is CIA operative Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck). Struggling to find a way to extract the hostages, Mendez is watching a B-movie with his son over the phone one evening, “Battle for the Planet of the Apes,” which inspires him to approach the hostage extraction from a new angle.

In order to get into Iran and successful pull the Americans out of Iran, Mendez plans to use the CIA’s connections in Hollywood to concoct a fake movie project, a “science fantasy” adventure à la “Star Wars” whose crew wants to film on location in Iran.

The key connection is Hollywood make-up artist John Chambers (John Goodman), and he puts Mendez and his supervisor Jack O’Donnell (Bryan Cranston) in touch with producer Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin), and the plan quickly snowballs. An existing script called “Argo” is taken from the bottom of a pile of screenplays, casting auditions, script readings and production meetings are held in order to keep up the appearance of reality.

This is an extraordinary story. There are a lot of genuinely tense, thrilling scenes throughout “Argo,” but there also is a tremendous amount of humor, most of which comes from Goodman, who screen presence is always a gift, and Arkin, whose movie producer character insists that even if the plan is to make a fake picture, he intends to see that it is a hit.

The humor of the methodology Mendez takes is inherent in how Hollywood and the CIA manage to work together to try to save the hostages from a volatile and dangerous revolutionary nation. Tate Donovan, Clea DuVall, Christopher Denham, Scoot McNairy, Kerry Bishé and Rory Cochrane play the diplomats convincingly and capture the fear and anxiety of the entire situation.

In terms of Affleck’s performance in the film, it may be one of his best. In terms of his direction, I think it is safe to say that after three films, Affleck has established himself as one of the most vigorous young directors around. Peter Travers of “Rolling Stone” put it this way: “Ben Affleck doesn’t merely direct ‘Argo,’ he directs the hell out of it.” Travers, who I often read, sums up Affleck’s power behind the camera.

Affleck does indeed direct the hell out of this film, and from a dynamite script by Chris Terrio. Just watch the masterful opening sequence where revolutionaries storm the American embassy — every moment of that sequence is handled with care, and Affleck believes in building tension and creating an experience on screen. Observe his brilliant attention to detail in relation to the period and the history of these events, and the difficult but well executed balance he strikes between tension, humor and drama.

After a declining acting career, it is great to see that Affleck has bounced back as one of the best directors out there, and “Argo” is one of the best films of 2012.

★★★★ (out of 4)