Argo

Answer fast: What’s the one thing that happens to all big blockbuster movies right before they premiere?  

Promotion.

There’s usually a lot of buzz around the movie. They create websites, teasers, trailers. They send the main actors on talk shows and international tours, hold premieres in different countries, etc, etc. And all with one single objective: Get the public interested in watching the movie. But I don’t remember a lot of promotion being made about ‘Argo’, which immediately made me think that it was probably not a good movie.

Besides, what kind of movie is titled “Argo”?

I watched the trailer and it seemed interesting, but the question was, was it interesting enough? But I went to watch it anyway.

VERY GOOD MOVIE!!!

The story happens in Tehran, Iran. People were working normally and going about their day on the US Embassy in Tehran, until lots and lots of protesters invade the Embassy and take everyone hostage, except six Americans who escaped through a back door and hid in the Canadian Ambassador’s house.

Now the CIA must devise a plan to rescue the six Americans and bring them back safely to the United States. But how can they do that without anyone in Iran finding out? How can they even pass through immigration without being recognized as Americans? It was quite an impossible mission. 

Lots of agents present their ideas, some good, others ridiculous, until one agent, Tony Mendez (played by Ben Affleck) has the idea of using a movie to rescue them.

That’s right. They were going to produce a fake movie, use the excuse that the best place to shoot the movie was Tehran, go there and come back with the six Americans with the pretense that they were part of the movie crew.

I don’t want to tell you anymore otherwise I will end up spoiling it for you. But let me tell you what I like about the whole movie:

·     It’s a very intelligent plot. It makes you think, ponder, pay attention.

·      It gives a nice message about responsibility, commitment and honoring your word.

·      The outfits and glasses are hilarious.

·      And my favorite: It gives you the idea of how everything in Hollywood is a big lie. They show what they want you to see and they make you believe in whatever they want you to believe.

That’s why I think it’s so important for us to choose carefully the movies we watch and most importantly, understand the message behind it and separate the good things from the bad.

I recommend Argo because it is quite a nice movie, except for all the cursing (well, it’s Hollywood after all, what do you expect?).  It has a message, it has something we can take from it and it’s very entertaining.

I tell you, if I had the habit of biting my nails, I’d probably have left the theaters with no fingers… it makes you really tense hehehe…