I'm not sure if Argo benefits from the
generally lousy movies that come out every year or if the critics and
the Academy are just surprised that Ben Affleck is a decent director.
This film, like his two prior efforts GONE BABY GONE, and THE
TOWN, is above average in so many ways and yet still a bit overrated.
While some of the film is brilliant docudrama chronicling the Iranians
storming the U.S. Embassy, other parts use stock Hollywood characters
for the sake of humor in ways that are entertaining although
unsurprising. The biggest letdown is Affleck’s ending that uses the
same formula that D.W. Griffith invented in 1915 and has been used a
thousand times since. And the shame is that it didn’t really need that
device to make the ending work.
Affleck himself proves again
to be a decent leading man in the right material. Bryan Cranston has
become the king of the solid two scene role, John Goodman seems to have a
small role in 1/3 of all Hollywood movies released this year, and Alan
Arkin gives a stock character enough charisma that you forgive the
familiarity.
There was a better movie inside this
entertaining movie had Affleck only had the confidence to surprise us a
few more times. If this were to beat ZERO DARK THIRTY for Best Picture
it would akin to SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE beating SAVING PRIVATE RYAN.
No comments:
Post a Comment