Our final nominee is up for seven awards. Best Film, Supporting Actor, Writing based on previously published work, Editing, Original Score, Sound Mixing, and Sound Editing. Best for last? Maybe, but most importantly it's the one I believe is going to win best picture. It has the right amount of truth and patriotic feel and has a hero more relate-able to the audience than a cold almost soulless lady looking for justice and is more newsworthy than a very old American story. Not to say Argo is just better than those two, but I feel as if only those three had a solid chance. Still got my fingers crossed for Django Unchained of course. I think with the lack of a nomination to best director and the incredible amount of hoopla that has surrounded the film and the lack of best director nomination it really is going to claim best film and writing based on previously published work. I give it a chance for editing as well but I think that while this is a solid movie, it’s just going to take two awards home - of course one is the biggest so that should show more truth in the film than anything else.
I really only had two complaints about the film, the very start of the film has this animated introduction and it felt incredibly juvenile. Don’t get me wrong, I like animation and the old 80s cartoons but this is a rather serious and mostly true story and the animated introduction of the politics in Iran seemed way off course to set the proper mood and tone for the film. By film's end I was still pondering why in the world did they have that animated introduction? It’s so out of place. They never go back to it either, it just sticks out like a sore thumb. The other complaint was the actors who played the six hiding diplomats weren't really that strong. It always felt that they were a different calibre of actor than the rest (Okay, they are, but you don’t want it to be that obvious). The emotion seemed forced and in the big argument of should they go or should they stay I felt a little underwhelmed even if that is exactly how it happened. I didn’t care for any of them individually, they were just the reason for the movie.
Thankfully, as far as scenes go they take on a small role whereas Jack O’Donnell (played by Bryan Cranston), John Chambers (played by John Goodman) and Lester Siegel (played by Alan Arkin) have more significance to the film than the six. So while it is a complaint that they are at least minor in scene time - though obviously incredibly important to the story as they couldn't be cut! - the three I just mentioned are all amazingly suited for their roles. I’ve seen them in numerous films and they fit into these roles like a tailor-made suit. I could have given the best supporting actor nomination to any of the three, though I don’t see Arkin winning the category as I mentioned before.
You're rooting for the down and out guy. I think most people like cheering for the underdog and this film has enough charm with the underdogs that you can’t help but root for Tony Mendez (played by the films director, Ben Affleck). No one role is overbearing, all the main roles are cohesively sewn together and I ended up enjoying the film even with its small problems. It's certainly the best American history film of the nominees. Hearing all the buzz in the media about the film, I don’t disagree with them. It’s a solid film and I’d gladly give it best film and then quickly pull a switch-a-roo and give it to Django Unchained.
I give it 9/10
PS: I’m not the only one who would watch the fake sci-fi film they were making called Argo am I?
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