Writer: Siti Munawirah Mustaffa

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Watch this if you liked: “The Producers” and “Red Eye”

It appears to the reviewer that Ben Affleck has way more talent behind the camera as compared to when he stands under the limelight. Not to say he's no gifted actor as the chiseled face chap had managed to score a lot of 'Awwws' in "Armageddon" and 'Wows' in "Hollywoodland".

But perhaps, or without a doubt, it does tell you something when "Gone Baby Gone" and "The Town" have led him into walking home with awards for the Best Director- which is far from pure luck for the actor who, in recent years has chosen to take a step behind the lens.

Now, with his third directorial work coming into the picture in 2012, moviegoers and critics alike are surrounded by both anticipations and expectations: Where and how far can "Argo" carry our beloved Affleck who once walked down the Hall of Shame with "Gigli"?

Even the movie characters are in doubt at first, when one official asks CIA operative Tony Mendez (Affleck) a sweat-breaking question: "You don't have a better bad idea than this?"

Little does he know that the film is going to be the best bad idea Affleck has so far. In fact, 'bad' hardly even exists in this film that's based on true events: The 1979 Iranian Revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini that witnessed the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

In supporting the revolution, a group of Islamist militants takes over the U.S Embassy in Tehran, also as a way of retaliation for America's support of the Shah. Six Americans working at the embassy are lucky enough to evade the capture by hiding inside the home of the Canadian Ambassador, Ken Taylor (Victor Garber). With their hiding being kept secret, the US State Department figures out ways to get them out of Tehran without any one of them getting harmed. And Mendez, who found inspiration from TV show "Battle for the Planet of the Apes", comes out with a plan that's way beyond far-fetched: Tell these Iranians that the six American diplomats are Canadian filmmakers merely scouting for exotic locations in Iran for a sci-fi film named "Argo".

Deadly thrilling and darkly comical, the film provides a brilliant, satirical take on flashy, pompous Hollywood and reminds us on some of the world's most important historical events - all with great details, which only serve to prove Affleck's meticulous nature as a director. Who says bad ideas can't work if you know how to act like a big shot?

"Argo" is by far, one of the best films 2012 has to offer. And with ideas like that perpetually vibrating through his mind, 'far' is definitely where Affleck is being carried to as a filmmaker.

Cinema Online, 03 December 2012