Argo: Ben Affleck delivers one of the best of 2012

Written by Mark Schumann, Father of Three
Thursday, 18 October 2012 12:54

Each week, the Reel Dad checks the nutritional value of a movie — new or classic — to help you choose what to watch. This week’s pick is a new thriller from Ben Affleck, Argo.

On any given day, news from the Middle East fills blogs, broadcasts and bulletins. No matter the issue, or the dispute, centuries of tension inspire today’s beliefs and actions. And no easy answers exist. The challenges of this region reach beyond present borders. They started a long time ago.

In November 1979, the United States found itself in the middle of a most dramatic moment in the evolution of Iran, when local citizens stormed the American Embassy and took 52 workers hostage. For more than a year, the world watched the urgency emerging from this stalemate. Something had to give, or someone had to budge, to free the world from this most dramatic incident.

It’s no surprise that Hollywood would return to this moment in time for a movie about this fascinating part of the world. In recent years we have seen, on screen, such films as The Hurt Locker and Three Kings try to answer questions about the impact of U.S. intervention on local governments and societies. Now Ben Affleck, the actor/screenwriter turned director, delivers one of the best films about this region as well as, perhaps, the movie of 2012, the thrilling adventure drama, Argo. This is must-see cinema.

With an incredible sense of period and location, Affleck opens his film with a beautifully created prologue that sets the tone for the tension in Tehran. The specificity of his vision is extraordinary; he leaves nothing to chance as he recreates the look and feel of an area in distress. Just as effectively, he pivots the film to broad comedy when a CIA operative suggests an inventive way to rescue six Americans who escape the embassy to hide in the home of the Canadian ambassador. Why not pretend to make a movie and cast the Americans as Canadian filmmakers?

Yes, it’s true, and as Affleck and screenwriter Chris Terrio beautifully explore, the absurdity of the idea makes success possible. Affleck demonstrates as much finesse as a filmmaker as the people in his film. He essentially creates two movies in one, the thriller about the Americans and the comedy about the outrageous idea for their rescue. That he so effectively shifts from one focus and tone to another illustrates his mastery of the medium. No one, in either portion of the film, steps outside a zone of authenticity for the sake of the narrative. The film freely balances the two parts of its story without losing its sense of truth.

Affleck, the director, gets the best performance we have seen from Affleck, the actor. The sense of distance that frustrates in many Affleck portrayals matures into a disconnection that fuels the character. The director also secures wonderfully nuanced portrayals from a rich supporting cast, including Alan Arkin and John Goodman who achieve just the right balance of flag and farce as the Hollywood creators. Victor Garber, always welcome on screen, is moving as the Canadian ambassador.

We learn about today from the events of yesterday. And while what happened in Iran in 1979 differs from today’s tensions, the foundations may be more similar than we initially think. Only when we learn what happened then can we begin to understand what could happen tomorrow. And movies like Argo can help. Plus it’s mightily entertaining, too. 

Film Nutritional Value

Argo

* Content: High. Argo teaches us a great deal about the realities of turmoil in the Middle East that is extremely important in today’s world.

* Entertainment: High. As the film teaches, it also keeps us at the edges of our seats with its nonstop thrills.

* Message: High. The film challenges us to look at our nation, and the messages we send, as well as the actions they may or may not be consistent.

* Relevance: High. With what is happening in today’s world, any chance to learn more about the Middle East is critical.

* Opportunity for Dialogue: High. After you share this film, talk with your older children about the choices the United States can make in such situations.

Argo is rated R for language and some violent images. It runs 120 minutes.

5 Popcorn Buckets

This Week’s Movie Menu

What’s on your family’s movie menu this week? Each week, the Reel Dad looks at what is easily available on broadcast television and cable to help you make nutritious choices for what you and your family watch. Take a look!

Choosing what movies to offer your family is a lot like planning what meals to serve. You want to savor something that you enjoy at the same time to nourish the mind, heart and body. Here are a few nutritional movies available this week on television for you and your family.

Burt Lancaster is the star of two films to consider for your family to share this week. This legendary actor won the Academy Award as Best Actor in 1960 for portraying a zealous con man in Elmer Gantry. Based on a portion of the novel by Sinclair Lewis, this excellent adaptation follows a slick traveling salesman who chooses to pursue a religious evangelist, played by Jean Simmons, who inspires him to declare his religious beliefs. But is he for real? Or an opportunist? Even though the film is set in the 1920s, its approach to religion raises issues for families to discuss today. How does someone if another is sincere about religion? And how sincere must someone be before publicly articulating religious beliefs? While the film doesn’t answer any questions, it will remind your family that issues about religion do not necessarily change with time. Elmer Gantry shows on Turner Classic Movies at 2:45 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 19.

Lancaster won another Oscar nomination in 1962 for a strong performance as Robert Stroud, an unconventional prisoner in Bird Man of Alcatraz, showing Saturday, Oct. 20, at 3:30 p.m. on Turner Classic Movies. This insightful exploration of the penal system in the United States stars the actor as a hardened criminal who is a convicted murderer. While in isolation in prison, he takes an interest in birds, and slowly rehabilitates himself into one of the nation’s leading experts in the health of these animals. As with Elmer Gantry, this Lancaster film asks us to consider the appropriate expectations for how the system treats prisoners who reinvent themselves. And, even though it does not answer any questions, it raises issues for any family to discuss.

On a lighter note, the Academy Award-winning musical Gigi airs on Turner Classic Movies on Saturday evening, Oct. 20, at 10. While the subject matter — of courtesans in turn-of-the-century France — may at first sound a bit mature, the topic is so delicately handled that the film is appropriate for all audiences even if younger children may be looking for more action. With a fabulous music score by Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner, and beautiful direction by Vincente Minnelli, Gigi creates its own cinema world and delights us with a special invitation to visit. Maurice Chevalier, Louis Jordan, Hermione Gingold and, especially, Leslie Caron delight every moment they appear on screen.

In the spirit of film fun, two films based on the Charles Addams cartoons from the classic Saturday Evening Post magazine are broadcast on Friday (at 7 and 9 p.m.) and Saturday (at 4 and 6 p.m.) on ABC Family. Angelika Houston and Raul Julia star as the parents of a rather odd collection of family members who manage to find the absurd in almost every possible situation at home. While there are no lasting lessons to learn from these films, their outrageous humor will keep your children chuckling.

Serving nutritious movies can be as easy as turning on the television. And be sure, as you watch together, to share what you observe, question and consider. Watching movies together can prompt valuable family discussions.