
The movie was fake. The mission was real.
Plot outline
Personal notes
Cast
- Ben Affleck
- Bryan Cranston
- Alan Arkin
- John Goodman
- Victor Garber
- Tate Donovan
- Clea DuVall
- Scoot McNairy
- Rory Cochrane
- Christopher Denham
- Kerry Bishé
- Kyle Chandler
- Chris Messina
- Zeljko Ivanek
- Titus Welliver
- Keith Szarabajka
- Bob Gunton
- Richard Kind
- Richard Dillane
- Omid Abtahi
- Page Leong
- Farshad Farahat
- Sheila Vand
- Karina Logue
- Ryan Ahern
- Bill Tangradi
- Jamie McShane
- Matthew Glave
- Roberto Garcia
- Christopher Stanley
- Jon Woodward Kirby
- Alborz Basiratmand
- Ruty Rutenberg
- Michael Woolston
- Sharareh Sedghi
- Bobby Zegar
- Victor McCay
- Matt Nolan
- J.R. Cacia
- Bill Kalmenson
- Rob Brownstein
- David Sullivan
- Jean Carol
- Michael Cassidy
- John Boyd
- Yuri Sardarov
- Nikka Far
- Aidan Sussman
- Barry Livingston
- Ali Saam
- Araz Vahid Ebrahim Nia
- Scott Anthony Leet
- Ashley Wood
- Rob Tepper
- Ray Porter
- Stephen J. Lattanzi
- Danielle Barbosa
- Michael Parks
- Eric Scott Cooper
- Adrienne Barbeau
- Tom Lenk
- Nelson Franklin
- Kelly Curran
- Mark Rhino Smith
- Scott Elrod
- Bill Blair
- Khalili Dastan
- Joseph S. Griffo
- Andrew Varenhorst
- Amitis Frances Ariano
- Ali Fiori
- Taies Farzan
- Rafi Pitts
- Allegra Carpenter
- Bobby Naderi
- Ray Haratian
- Mehrdad Sarlak
- Soheil Tasbihchi
- Hovik Gharibian
- Dorianne Pahlavan
- Houshang Touzie
- Peter Henry Schroeder
- Ali Farkhonde
- Sahm McGlynn
- Muhammed Cangören
- Asghar Allah Veirdi Zadeh
- Leyla Beysulen
- Lindsey Ginter
- Tim Quill
- Larry Sullivan
- Danilo Di Julio
- Fanshen Cox
- Tehmina Sunny
- Amir K
- Baris Deli
- Cas Anvar
- Bahram Khosraviani
- Sam Sheikholeslami
- Saba Sarem
- Puya Abbassi
- Reza Mir
- Jozef Fahey
- Annie Little
- Fahim Fazli
- Brandon Tabassi
- John Hans Tester
- Alex Schemmer
- Yan Feldman
- Nancy Stelle
- Maz Siam
- Ken Edling
- Deborah Deimel Bean
- Michael Chieffo
- Taylor Schilling
- Marc Abbink
- Ramazan Akboga
- Martin Andris
- Sean Ardalan
- Noah Arrue
- Ninef Arsanos
- Jeffrey Ashkin
- Gabriel Aslan
- Koby Azarly
- Nima Azizi
- Cathy Beasley
- Danielle Beckwith
- David Bittick
- Michael Blumenstock
- Phillip Borghee
- Luke Burnyeat
- Ramon Calzada
- Rita Cannon
- Jimmy Carter
- Momo Casablanca
- Victoria Charters
- Jennifer Christopher
- Amaru Cloud
- Shaun Daley
- Jared Dante
- Vargha Davari
- Patricia DiZebba
- Matt Doherty
- Mark Casimir Dyniewicz Jr.
- Ehab Elgharabawy
- Mark Falvo
- Kristi Faye
- Jerald Garner
- Clark Gilmer
- Sepideh Haftgoli
- Priyom Haider
- Dariush Hajirnia
- Fouad Hajji
- Lucas N. Hall
- Philip Baker Hall
- Matt Harding
- Kevin Hawley
- Daniel Hayek
- Macon Hill
- James A. Howard
- Jasmin Jandreau
- Eli Jane
- Richard Allan Jones
- Abraham Justice
- Rocky Kanaka
- Jason Kapraun
- Athena Talin Katalaris
- David Dustin Kenyon
- Siamak Keyvani
- Michael Klemp
- Elena Kolpachikova
- Michelangelo Kowalski
- Germano Kuerten
- Michael Kunselman
- Veronika Kurshinskaya
- Alvaro Laborin
- Mihaela Lacramioara
- Diamond Nicole Landeen
- Michael Laren
- Jonathan Levian
- Michael Lovern
- Chanelle Lyn
- Oscar Magana Jr.
- Amir Malaklou
- Daniel Marson
- Ayden Mayeri
- Coleman McClary
- Matt McColm
- Paul McMichael
- Matt McVay
- Roman Mitichyan
- Derek Mobraaten
- Tony Moore
- Anthony Narvaez
- Armin Nasseri
- Asal Nazerpour
- Randy Oglesby
- Francisco Ovalle
- Josh Pellerin
- Erin Pickett
- Sandra Plazinic
- Bill Porter
- Tyson Power
- Rita Qatami
- Erick Ramirez
- Gerry Rand
- Ray Remillard
- Ayanery Reyes
- Korrina Rico
- Vincent Rivera
- Moe Rock
- Abe Rogland
- Brendan Rooney
- Seli M. Rose
- Omid Saeednia
- Mitchell Salberg
- Nick Santoro
- Christina Sardinas
- Noah Segura
- James Shanklin
- Brandon Slagle
- Dawn Sobolewski
- Sally Spaide
- Ania Spiering
- Michael Stailey
- Steven T Stanton
- Stewart Strauss
- Stephen Szibler
- Kaveh Taherian
- Teemaree
- John H. Tobin
- Fred Toma
- Jack Topalian
- Sunny Vachher
- Desary Vailencour
- Dennis Velasco
- Rocco Vitalia
- Mike Wallace
- Jeremy Gram Weaver
- Don Whatley
- Xavier Wolf
- Rana Yamak
- Yasmeen Yamak
- Omid Zader
- Rafael Zubizarreta
Plots
Acting under the cover of a Hollywood producer scouting a location for a science fiction film, a CIA agent launches a dangerous operation to rescue six Americans in Tehran during the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran in 1979.
In 1979, the American embassy in Iran was invaded by Iranian revolutionaries and several Americans were taken hostage. However, six managed to escape to the official residence of the Canadian Ambassador and the CIA was ordered to get them out of the country. With few options, exfiltration expert Tony Mendez devised a daring plan: create a phony Canadian film project looking to shoot in Iran and smuggle the Americans out as its production crew. With the help of some trusted Hollywood contacts, Mendez created the ruse and proceeded to Iran as its associate producer. However, time was running out with the Iranian security forces closing in on the truth while both his charges and the White House had grave doubts about the operation themselves.
After Iranian militants stormed and took control of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in November 1979 taking 56 Americans as hostages, six Americans managed to get away and took refuge in the home of Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor. After two months of the Canadians putting their lives on the line everyday, the CIA and the US State Department try to come up with a plan to get their people out. Tony Mendez is an "ex filtration" specialist who proposes that they pose as a Canadian film crew scouting locations for a science fiction movie called Argo. Using Hollywood connections, Mendez creates a back story for the movie - ads in Variety, casting calls, inviting he media to a production launch - and then heads off to Iran to lead the six Americans out.
In 1979, the US Embassy in Iran is stormed by protesters who then take everyone there captive. But 6 members manage to get out and go to the Canadian embassy. After a few months, the 6 are still there. And it's only a matter of time before the Iranians discover that 6 members of the embassy staff are missing. So the CIA must find a way to get them out. And so far they can't come up with a way. Tony Mendez, an ex filtration expert comes up with a plan. He will go in as a producer scouting for shooting locations for a movie and that the 6 are part of the production crew. So he goes to Hollywood and with help from a friend, makes it appear that he is a producer. And the movie they're producing is called Argo. Eventually he goes to Iran to tell them what they have to do.
In late 1979, anti-American sentiments are running high in Iran due to the US harboring the ailing former Shah of Iran, who the US put into place in the 1950s, and who many Iranians saw as causing much hardship and death for residents over his close to thirty year reign, solely for his and his family's own benefit. In November, Iranian militants, working under the name of its new leader, the Ayatollah Khomeini, are able to break through the secured perimeter of the US Embassy in Tehran. The fifty plus embassy staff are able to burn or shred most of their documents before they are taken hostage. What the Iranians are unaware of is that six embassy staff members escaped just prior to the raid, and managed to take refuge in the home of the Canadian ambassador, Ken Taylor, and his wife, Pat. Fast forward two months... The situation has not changed, and the State Department has brought in the services of the CIA, both to free the hostages and extricate the six in hiding. Tony Mendez with the CIA is the lead consultant on the six. Although many, in his mind, implausible plans are hatched to extricate the six, Tony eventually comes up with what some others believe is an implausible plan: have the six, under Canadian passports, pretend to be a film crew in Iran scouting for locations, with Tony part of that film crew to lead the six out himself. On the advice of Tony's Hollywood advisors, make-up artist John Chambers and producer Lester Siegel, Tony's plan not only has to fool the Iranians to work, it has to fool the entire world, who need to believe that this film is actually in pre-production. Beyond the need to get past the militants, especially at Tehran Airport where they are vigilant about capturing any Americans trying to escape, the plan has many obstacles to success, including: the six, who need to get up to speed basically overnight on their cover stories, some who predetermine certain failure, which if does happen means torturous death; competing priorities in Washington between the six and the fifty plus hostages; the Taylors' Iranian housekeeper, Sahar, who comes to the realization that the Taylors' supposed Canadian house guests are not who they say they are; and a mug shot book of embassy staff among the shredded materials, which Iranian sweat shop workers are tasked with putting back together, and which if achieved would identify the fact that the militants are minus six people from among their hostages.
In 1979, the Islamic Revolution overthrows the dictator Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who came to power sponsored by the United States government, and the leader of the revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, assumes the power. The Iranian revolutionaries invade the American Embassy in Tehran and the American officials are taken hostages. However, six officials flee from the Embassy and are secretly hosted by the Canadian Ambassador at his residence in Tehran and the CIA directors summon the agent Tony Mendez, who is an expert in bringing American citizens back to their country, to plot a rescue plan to save the group. Tony Mendez plots the most incredible plan to bring the six officials: to create a fake Canadian film to be shot in Iran and include the officials in the production crew. Without other alternative, Tony Mendez receives green light from his superiors and travels to Hollywood to set in motion his almost impossible mission to rescue the group.