Man on Film: Argo

As I mentioned in the Looper piece last week, Ben Affleck is one of the five directors whose work I most look forward to. If his first two forays into the world of film direction (Gone Baby Gone and The Town, if you've been living under a rock) showed us anything, it is that Ben Affleck is a natural at crafting taut action thrillers. With Argo, Affleck has stepped up his game and all but ensured himself and his film multiple Oscar nominations.

Argo is fucking fantastic. Bolstered by a brilliant Chris Terrio-penned script, Argo adeptly balances the elements of humor, suspense, personal drama, and satire within the story of CIA Agent Tony Mendez and the six escaped U.S. Embassy workers who needed exfiltrating when the Embassy in Tehran was stormed setting off the Iran Hostage Crisis in 1979. Based on both Mendez's book, The Master of Disguise--which was horribly adapted the first time around in the synonymous 2002 Dana Carvey star vehicle--and Joshuah Bearman's 2007 article in Wired "The Great Escape," Affleck & Co. go back and forth seamlessly between the drama in Tehran, the behind the scenes Agency work in Langley and D.C., and the general ridiculousness of the mission's front in Hollywood.

As you should expect by this point, you'll not find me going into plot at length. As is always the point in these Man on Film columns, this is a reaction to the film, but I wouldn't want to spoil anything for you, even with a film where the ending is not a surprise to most of the audience. What I will say about the plot here is going to be extremely general. The storytelling is exceptionally taut. There are no wasted moments on screen. Everything (at least eventually) serves to advance the plot.

Perhaps more importantly, Affleck proves to be able to adroitly ratchet up the tension at each thriller beat, especially at the brilliantly directed climax. He proves to be among the best directors out there at crafting the intellectual action-thriller with an emotional core that never rings hollow or false.

From an artistic or filmic standpoint, Argo breathtaking. The mise-en-scene of the film seems to perfectly capture the world at the end of the Carter presidency. The film stock (or filtering) hearkens back to the political thrillers of the late 1970s or early '80s. The art direction, wardrobe, soundtrack, and production design brilliantly transport the audience to the era therein, demonstrating a painstaking attention to detail that to lesser directors would be afterthoughts but show Affleck's dedication to the art of film-making.

Then there is the cast. Three films into his directorial career, it is evident that actors are going to gladly step in for lesser roles just to be in Affleck's projects. This time around, Kyle Chandler, Chris Messina, Philip Baker Hall, Adrienne Barbeau, Michael Parks, Richard Kind, and Titus Welliver join in for fairly small roles, complimenting a principle cast that already has Affleck, John Goodman, Alan Arkin, Bryan Cranston, Tate Donovan, and Victor Garber. Affleck also rounds out his cast with smaller character actors and '90s indie kids like Rory Cochrane (Dazed and Confused reunion) or Clea DuVall or Tom Lenk. And the cast is great. Goodman and Arkin chew up the scenery in their brilliantly acerbic scenes in Hollywood--a segment of the film that allows Affleck to satirically send up the fucked up machine that tried to devour him whole and summarily dispose of him in the early Aughts. The rest of the cast is perfectly suited for what they are called upon to do. Garber quietly plays the part of the Canadian Ambassador with such a penchant for subtlety and subduction that makes you wish he was cast in everything. Chandler, Cranston, Messina, Donovan, and Welliver all do exactly what any fan of their respective television work has come to appreciate and expect given their impressive body of work.

I could continue to heap praise on this film. I could talk about the nostalgia of seeing the McDonald's wrappers of my youth or the strange pride I feel at Affleck having validated the years and years of unmitigated and extremely vocal support of someone I do not know at all, but that would mean that you'd still be reading this and not heading out to the theater to see this film. I figured out that this was the 41st movie I've seen in this calendar year and while The Avengers and Looper and Killer Joe and Beasts of the Southern Wild (reviews to come on those last two) were great, I don't know that I've seen a film other than maybe The Master this year that comes close to being as great as Argo was.

Man on Film: The Town

Perhaps the most impressive feat that Ben Affleck, The Director, has achieved is that when leaving the theater, I kept thinking to myself that I cannot wait to see the next film by* Ben Affleck.

*I use "film by" not without the knowledge of the loaded connotation the phrase has, but it seemed the easiest way to construct the sentence. You can choose to ignore this note, but I choose to subscribe at least partially to the auteur theory.

In The Town, Affleck has crafted a compelling crime drama with the emphasis on the drama. Rather than just churn out another bank-robbing movie, Affleck has chosen to focus on character rather than action. That is not to say that the action is non-existent--quite the contrary--but the central focus is not on the heist/chase sequences, and the film is that much stronger for it.

Having found his niche within the genre, Affleck surrounded himself with an outstanding cast, threw one of the best cinematographers in the business behind the camera (Robert Elswit, whose credits include every P.T. Anderson film, Michael Clayton, Good Night, and Good Luck, and Amazing Grace and Chuck), and hired Dylan Tichenor, the editor of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Brokeback Mountain, and most of P.T. Anderson's films, to put the whole thing together.  And the film looks fantastic.  The Greater Boston Area comes alive on the screen, as does Affleck's affinity for his hometown--even its seedy underbelly.

As for the cast, I don't think it's any secret that I have a totally hetero-man-crush (probably) on Ben Affleck, the actor.  People used to look at what seemed to be a normal guy with discerning taste with raised eyebrows when I not only confessed that I liked Ben Affleck but vehemently defending him.  How do you like me now?  As was the case in State of Play, Hollywoodland, Extract, Affleck impresses in front of the camera.  His character, Doug MacCray, is the heart and soul of the film.  The life of the bank robber is one he was basically born into.  Brotherhood, figuratively, is what keeps him in.  What is interesting is how the external factors pull at Doug.  At his core, he is a mostly good person.  His crimes are victimless for the most part, and his life of crime is one he wants to extricate himself from.  His fraternal allegiances, his protective urges--these are the things that keep him tied in.  Doug is the heart of the film, despite his dubious pastime, and Affleck plays him with a perfect mixture of good nature, good humor, and quiet danger. 

Around Affleck is a cast rounded out with standout performances from Jeremy Renner, Rebecca Hall, Blake Lively, Pete Postelthwaite, Titus Welliver, and Jon Hamm.  Renner in particular stands tall as the hardened ex-con best friend whose stint in prison was served after protecting Doug.  His time changed him, leaving him slightly unhinged and a bit of a wild card.  There is a chaotic, anarchic energy coursing through his performance.  Any scene he is in has the audience on edge.  Postlethwaite surprises in playing the aged hard-ass.  Hall and Lively play polar opposites, with Lively playing the drugged out single mom with a flair I didn't think was possible and Hall playing the part of the victim in recovery with pitch-perfect fragility.

Narratively, the film never had me bored.  The dialogue seemed both authentic and adroitly mixed in enough comedy to strike a tonal balance to lighten things up just enough (that "Bones" line had me laughing out loud).  In short, there is nothing that I didn't love about The Town.  Sure, I'm not the most objective person on this film, but don't let that stop you from seeing this film.