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After the flat-out success of the small-scale Gone Baby Gone, director Ben Affleck attempted to up the ante with the much more epic The Town. While I know a lot of people who loved that film, I found it to be a weird mish-mash of capable action and drama that never really came together as anything meaningful. When I first heard about Argo, I was dreading a repeat of The Town. When I saw the trailer I was dreading something akin to George Clooney's abysmal Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Thankfully all my worries were ill founded. Ben Affleck knocks it out of the park on this one creating a riveting story full of tension that is also capable of taking a break for a few chuckles. It's a very delicate balance that few films are able to pull off, but this one does. When I saw that shot of the wineglass being carried on a tray from the costumed script read-through to the back kitchen where a TV is showing hostage crisis coverage, I was blown away. The perfect hand-off. Ben Affleck is the real deal folks. To anyone who says otherwise I say, "Argo fuck yourself!"
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