Underdog, feel-good Argo gains Oscar favourite status
LOS ANGELES — Some years, Academy Awards voters just want to feel right about themselves, their industry, their country. And maybe honour one of their own who hasn’t always shared in the love of his peers. That could explain why Ben Affleck’s Argo has gone from best-picture long-\ shot to Oscar favourite over such competitors as Steven Spielberg’s stately but talky Civil War portrait Lincoln or Kathryn Bigelow’s brilliant yet contentious CIA thriller Zero Dark Thirty.
Argo is a feel-good thrill ride that’s patriotic enough to warrant a good “USA! USA!” chant as the credits roll. It’s all about how Hollywood helped save some lives. And a best-picture win could be viewed as righting a wrong after Affleck inexplicably missed out on a best-director nomination.
“There’s a surge to embrace Ben Affleck in the aftermath of his Oscar snub. It seems like such an outrage that his film is benefiting from it as a result,” said Tom O’Neil, who runs the awards website GoldDerby.com. “It really is a pro-Argo movement more than it is a kind of shrug off of Lincoln or a disparagement of Zero Dark Thirty. Hollywood is rallying around one of their wounded own.”
“ARGO IS MANAGING THAT NEAR-IMPOSSIBLE THING. IT’S WINNING EVERYTHING, YET FEELS LIKE THE UNDERDOG.”
DAVE KARGER
Argo is one of three true-life best-picture nominees steeped in different eras of U.S. history.
Argo tells of a little-known victory amid an otherwise enervating chapter in American foreign affairs during the Iran hostage crisis Affleck has taken knocks in the past over his acting, but in only his third film as director, he shows complete mastery of populist moviemaking. He gives viewers great drama, great laughs, agonizing tension and an exultant finale, all while playing loose with the facts in a way audiences can forgive in the name of a terrific piece of entertainment.
“When you look at the small group of movies that are really in contention to win, Argo is the most exciting choice in two ways,” said Dave Karger, chief correspondent for movie-ticket seller Fandango. com. “It’s the most exciting of the movies, and it would be the most exciting winner because of its now underdog feeling that it has by not getting that directing nomination. Argo is managing that near-impossible thing. It’s winning everything, yet feels like the underdog.”
Much like the story Affleck tells. As Iranian militants stormed the U.S. embassy, where they held 52 people hostage for 444 days, six Americans escaped and took refuge with Canadian diplomats. CIA rescue specialist Tony Mendez, played by Affleck, organized a daring plot to get them out disguised as crew members of a fake sci-fi movie scouting locations in Iran.
Lincoln gets a little dry in its history lesson, and Zero Dark Thirty gets a little ugly in its reflection of deeds done in our name.
Or more simply, Lincoln hurts our heads.
Zero Dark Thirty hurts our hearts.
Argo is a big wet kiss, a crowdpleaser that works at every level.