(Mon 18th - Wed 20th / 8pm / £5/4/3 TTT)
(Ben Affleck / 2012 / USA / 120 minutes/ Certificate 15)

So, after two fairly personal (and successful, both critically and financially) films set in his hometown of Boston, what should Ben Affleck tackle for his third directorial effort? Why, a dramatisation of the 1980 joint CIA-Canadian secret operation to extract six fugitive American diplomatic personnel out of revolutionary Iran of course. Affleck steps in front of the camera as ostensible lead in this tense action-drama (when Brad Pitt couldn't fit it into his schedule), crafting a rollicking but intelligent yarn.

When the U.S. embassy in Tehran is stormed in November 1979, more than 50 of the embassy staff are taken as hostages, but six escape and hide in the home of the Canadian ambassador. With the escapees' situation kept secret, the US State Department begins to explore options for covertly getting them out Iran. Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck), a CIA specialist brought in for consultation, criticises the initial proposals, then, inspired at home by cartoons on TV with his son, he plans to create a cover story that the escapees are Canadian filmmakers, scouting "exotic" locations in Iran for a similar sci-fi film. Bryan Cranston, John Goodman and Alan Arkin are the most prominent of possibly the best ensemble film cast of the last year that leads the audience on an at-times hilarious and nail-biting race to the finish.