Great idea and timely in the subject. It could have been a great movie if it were not for the soundbite presentation.

The acting is good, but the film structure has a lot to answer for. They put in the standard character conflicts to punch up the story.

It is the Iranian revolution. In the chaos, six U. S. Embassy people escape to the Canadian embassy. Now the problem is how to extricate them before they are detected and dispatched. "To this day, this story stands as an enduring model for international cooperation between governments."

So, an ersatz movie company for a film called "Argo" is formed. We listen to lots of talk and a few dispatches. Yet the story progresses ever so slowly.

As Tom Stoppard, author of "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" writes "In a tragedy, even minor characters die."