95% Argo

All Critics (192) | Top Critics (43) | Fresh (183) | Rotten (9)

'Argo' is one of the best movies of the year.

Argo has that solid, kick-the-tires feel of those studio films from the 70s that were about something but also entertained. Only it's as laugh outright amusing as it is sobering.

The movieland satire is laid on thick, but it's also deadly accurate. Schlock has never seemed so patriotic, and Arkin and Goodman have rarely been so good.

Argo is a rollicking yarn, easily the most cohesive and technically accomplished of Affleck's three films so far, but a part of me wishes the director hadn't cast himself in the lead role.

If nothing else, it proves that every so often, the CIA can pull something off - and that yes, Canadians are just about the nicest people on the planet.

The film is a whopper of a tale, one designed for Oscar nominations, Best Picture and Best Director among them.

There's "creating an intense, claustrophobic situation in a foreign locale" and there's "inciting unquestioning fear of 'the other'," and Argo pulls off the former far more often than it accidentally achieves the latter.

An ingeniously conceived thriller that's almost as much about our collective love of cinema as it is a tricky international incident.

Suspenseful movie based on a true incident; Ben Affleck's stock rises as an actor and director.

It not only confirms Affleck as one of the few A-listers to have made a credible transition to behind the camera, but that he's one of the most exciting mainstream directors around, full stop.

Affleck's seamless melding of intense thrills in Tehran and biting humour in California makes for a wholly satisfying movie.

The use of dramatic licence in the finale is too obvious but aside, Argo is a solid dramatic thriller that is informative, entertaining and gripping.

The film has heart and brains as well as balls, the screenplay delivering a clear and strong story without sacrificing either political or personal context

As a real life human drama, it is extraordinary. As a thrilling movie experience, it is unmissable

A thoroughly enjoyable, well put together movie that flies by, works well and largely succeeds at what it is trying to accomplish. Also one of those movies where it feels like "I should LOVE it - but don't."

It's okay to take a few liberties in the name of a good story

A funny trip to Hollywood and gripping escape from Tehran.

The scenes involving Goodman and Arkin are ribald and laugh-out-loud funny. You couldn't ask for two more expert actors to play these jaded movie veterans.

If there's one lesson to be gleaned from director Ben Affleck's relentlessly tense, painstakingly detailed Argo, it's that we should consider the possibility that our history has been manipulated more than many of us would care to admit.

Argo smacks of being another dreary Oscar contender but in actuality it's destined to be one of the fall's most purely enjoyable films.

Ar-go see them in action.

... a crackling good suspense thriller ...

I was literally in tears for parts of Argo, a purely physical reaction, not an emotional one, to deal with the tension... That isn't only some serious movie magic, it's a downright master class in suspense filmmaking from director Ben Affleck.

Under its own terms as an upscale mainstream thriller, it's a total success. This is classy moviemaking, from its well-observed performances to immaculate eye for period detail.

a crackerjack based-on-a-true story thriller that finally allows actor/director Ben Affleck to demonstrate his behind-the-camera muscles in a location other than his native Boston

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/argo_2012/

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