Movie Trailer Thursday: Argo
Opens: October 13
Which Ben Affleck are we going to get this time around?
His new film is called Argo and stars a slew of memorable That Guy’s (Marissa Cooper’s dad on The O.C., Coach Taylor on Friday Night Light’s and Slater from Dazed and Confused, to name a few) as well as Bryan Cranston (Walter White alert!) and John Goodman. In all honesty, this movie looks really good. But it all goes back to Affleck: if he gives you a patent-pending Ben Affleck “You’re Paying Me in Cash, Right?” Memorial Mail-In, this movie is going to suck massive amounts of suck. If he’s the Ben Affleck from The Town, then this will go down as one of the best movies of the year.
I’m leaning towards the latter. The phrase ‘Based on a True Story’ is always a crowd-pleaser in my house and it’s even better when there’s the possibility that some terrorists were going to kill some folks before the CIA stepped in and saved the day. Eff yeah, America!
Quick synopsis: During the Iran Hostage Crisis, a few employees at the American embassy snuck out a backdoor to avoid capture. They hid at the Canadian Ambassador’s house and spent months living like Jews during the Holocaust, hiding in cabinets and secret rooms and such.
The Americans get wind of this and have to figure out a way to get into Iran and get them out. The best idea? Finagle a fake Canadian passport for the hostages and Ben Affleck, pretend they were scouting a movie location and have the hostages pose as a Canadian film crew in order to get out of the country. There’s a bit more to it than that, but those are the basics.
I could not have thought this up if I was locked in a room by myself for a week, but apparently this really happened and from the looks of things the movie will tell the story relatively close to how it shook out. I love it when that happens. You can’t be ‘Based on a True Story’ and change everything around. That’s like me writing a book ‘Based on the True Story’ of my life, but making me a millionaire with washboard abs who flies to Vegas three times a month.
Since it’s coming out in that brief lull between summer blockbuster season and Oscar’s season, this movie could slip between the cracks for a lot of people. That’s really a shame, since it will be the first time Slater-san and Ben Affleck have shared a screen since Dazed. We’re all winners at that point.
Burning Question: How do you get a fake passport? I don’t even have a real one but it seems like every person in a movie has a fake or can get one relatively easily. It can’t be as simple as getting a fake ID. I really want a fake passport, even if I never use it.
Reminds me of: The Ocean’s 11 of thrillers; some laughs, a few heart pounding moments and ultimately, the good guys prevail and everyone leaves the theater satisfied.
Theater, RedBox, or Skip it: Theater. Don’t RedBox this one for some background noise; looks like there will be lots of names and places to remember, so you have to keep up.
Shut Up and Listen 