Ben Affleck directs as we start off with a thirty second tour of the history of Iranian politics and then move on to 1979 where we see the beginning of the Iranian Hostage Crisis. Sparking a revolution in Tehran the US Embassy is taken over and the 52 workers therein became hostages. But six escaped and as the action kicks off when they find themselves holed up in the house of the Canadian diplomat. Back in America, Tony Mendez (Affleck, Dogma) decides that the only way (the ONLY way) to get the hostages (well, six of them) out is to put together a fake film that will, at the height of the international tension, be shot in Iran.
Maybe you can tell, I'm not convinced.
As I say, Iranian politics of which I know less than nothing about, seems like an interesting premise for a film. I was looking forward to learning some new things, finding out the American perspective on these events, and maybe being given something to think about. I learned three important things; a) The writers of this film love the 70's and stressed even more is the fact that b) the writers of this film love movies and finally, and what impacted on me most about this film c) the writers of this film love films from the 70's. I mean, c'mon! Such a wide range of things that could be discussed and explored surrounding this event, but no. Nothing.
This would be acceptable, if and only if, the film was about something else. I think that may have been the intent of those involved, but god did it go down in flames. This "character" drama was filled with one dimensional people that even if you knew, you wouldn't care about. You have a main man who is difficult to care about at all, 'cause he's just pretty dull. The other six have no back stories and actually rarely feature except to occasionally remind you that they exist.
Basically, it was so promising that - even though it looked quite good, was occasionally humorous and the performances weren't awful - it ended as a crushing disappointment. It was dull, and with such a broad range of large themes, it seems almost impossible to have missed every single one so spectacularly.
Also, the joke around which they titled the film was funny the first time. To hear it then repeated over one hundred times just made me think that at one point the entire script was just funny situations where that joke could be made.
Maybe you can tell, I'm not convinced.
As I say, Iranian politics of which I know less than nothing about, seems like an interesting premise for a film. I was looking forward to learning some new things, finding out the American perspective on these events, and maybe being given something to think about. I learned three important things; a) The writers of this film love the 70's and stressed even more is the fact that b) the writers of this film love movies and finally, and what impacted on me most about this film c) the writers of this film love films from the 70's. I mean, c'mon! Such a wide range of things that could be discussed and explored surrounding this event, but no. Nothing.
This would be acceptable, if and only if, the film was about something else. I think that may have been the intent of those involved, but god did it go down in flames. This "character" drama was filled with one dimensional people that even if you knew, you wouldn't care about. You have a main man who is difficult to care about at all, 'cause he's just pretty dull. The other six have no back stories and actually rarely feature except to occasionally remind you that they exist.
Basically, it was so promising that - even though it looked quite good, was occasionally humorous and the performances weren't awful - it ended as a crushing disappointment. It was dull, and with such a broad range of large themes, it seems almost impossible to have missed every single one so spectacularly.
Also, the joke around which they titled the film was funny the first time. To hear it then repeated over one hundred times just made me think that at one point the entire script was just funny situations where that joke could be made.
The first half of the film I thought was rather dragged out, though I did enjoy the second half more, but will agree about the one-dimensionality of the characters.
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