Argo

In the midst of the Iranian revolution's fervent fervor in 1979, Tony Mendez, a talented CIA 'exfiltration' specialist, finds himself thrust into the unenviable position of orchestrating a groundbreaking, albeit perilous, operation. His mission: to covertly extract six stranded American diplomats, who, having escaped the embassy's chaotic compound during a frenzy of student protests, have managed to temporarily find refuge within the walls of Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor's secluded home in Tehran. Initially, Mendez's superiors seem unconvinced by his bold idea – to pose as a Hollywood film production team scouting locations in the exotic Iranian desert for a movie titled "Argo." The pretenses are ambitious, yet the stakes are decidedly more pressing: secure the escape of these reluctant, American diplomats without raising any unnecessary eyebrows, all while avoiding entanglement by the rigid, oppressive foreign government that now fervently exerts unprecedented control over the city. With time dwindling, Mendez receives critical support from a network of fellow covert operatives within the US Embassy, including Robert Anders, Mark Lijek, Kay Lijek, Cora Lijek, Mark and Bobby Bodger. As the operative patiently negotiates through the intricate relationships between various operatives, he consistently stresses the immediacy and the treacherous road lying ahead of them. At the same time, local allies such as John Chamberlin - friend to Ken Taylor – play a somewhat critical role in this plan that holds precarious chances from the beginning and remains precarious through out its execution. Key to the entire operation is the intricate construction of Mendez' and his team's fictional film project. As the cover story becomes a thinly veiled disguise for their clandestine escape plan, fellow ex-patriot Oscar Wiley is enlisted to portray the critical part he has to play in providing an authentic make-believe cover in this ingenious scheme to escape imminent capture. Mendez, in collaboration with experts from Hollywood, establishes detailed production plans about the supposed movie set to provide elaborate-looking 'evidence' of their fictional film's pre-production process – including photographs, draft scripts, and impressive (fictional) projected budgets. During the climactic stages of the unfolding crisis, Mendez's 'film team' secures the liberty of six refugees through the persuasive force of authority brought on the foreign representative to assume that a production company and their crew are there not to stir up the sensitive mood prevailing in the already volatile country, despite international animosity mounting towards each state by the other for what they have done.