At the time of this writing, "Argo" has not yet opened in theaters. Mark my words, though: critics and upscale audiences are going to fall all over themselves praising the film as the Second Coming, simply because it smartly tells an inspiring, politically charged true story stranger, some might say, than fiction. "Argo" is a shoo-in for a gaggle of Oscars and end-of-year accolades and its fans will prattle on for days about how this is how a person—in this case, director Ben Affleck (2010's "The Town")—is supposed to make a grown-up Hollywood picture. There will be no dispelling here that "Argo" is reasonably solid, capably acted, and worth at least a single look. A truly great film, though? Not a chance. There are no deeper messages beyond what's up on the screen, its narrative is too stodgily straightforward, and how things play out too routine to make more than a cursory mark. True, this particular story has only been made public since it became declassified in 1997, but variations using the same incessantly conventional storytelling are more than just a little familiar.
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