[Screen It]

 

"ARGO"
(2012) (Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston) (R)


Alcohol/Drugs Moderate
Blood/Gross Stuff Mild
Disrespectful/Bad Attitude Extreme
Frightening/Tense Scenes Heavy
Gun/Weapons Heavy
Imitative Behavior Mild
Jump Scenes None
Music (Scary/Tense) None
Music (Inappropriate) None
Profanity Extreme
Sex/Nudity Heavy
Smoking Extreme
Tense Family Scenes Mild
Topics to Talk About Heavy
Violence Heavy


QUICK TAKE:
Dramatic Thriller: A CIA "exfiltration" operative heads into the middle of the Iran hostage crisis in hopes of getting six American escapees out of the country under the ruse that they're all part of a movie crew scouting Tehran for a new sci-fi flick titled "Argo."
PLOT:
It's 1979 and the Islamic Revolution has forced the Shah of Iran to flee to the United States for safety. As a result, Iranian students and others raid and take over the American embassy in Tehran, and now hold 52 Americans hostage. Yet six others -- Bob Anders (TATE DONOVAN), Lee Schatz (RORY COCHRANE), Mark (CHRISTOPHER DENHAM) and Cora Lijek (CLEA DuVALL) and Joe (SCOOT McNAIRY) and Kathy Stafford (KERRY BISHE) -- managed to escape and have taken refuge in the home of Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor (VICTOR GARBER).

Hearing one bad rescue plan after another from various U.S. Government types, CIA "exfiltration" specialist Tony Mendez (BEN AFFLECK) finally comes up with a scheme he thinks will give them the best chance at succeeding. And that's for him to pose as a Canadian filmmaker scouting Tehran for a film shoot where the six escapees will serve as various filmmaker and production crew members.

Tony's immediate boss, Jack O'Donnell (BRYAN CRANSTON), thinks it's a crazy idea, as do others further up the command chain. Yet Tony manages to get approval for the idea, and he recruits Hollywood make-up artist John Chambers (JOHN GOODMAN) and producer Lester Siegel (ALAN ARKIN) to help him make up a fake film as their cover.

They choose the script for "Argo," a Middle Eastern sci-fi flick, hold a big press conference to announce the start of production, and create a fake studio and back-story support to their ruse. With limited time, they race to make that work so that Tony can fly to Tehran, set things into motion, and hopefully fly out with the six Americans before anyone figures out the elaborate rescue plan.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
They might if they're interested in the subject matter and/or are fans of anyone in the cast (most likely older teens).
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R
For language and some violent images.


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