* AbilityOverAppearance: Some Hispanics and film critics criticized the casting of Creator/BenAffleck in the role of Mendez, who is of Mexican ancestry on his father's side. Creator/EdwardJamesOlmos considered Affleck's casting as Mendez a "mistake", and that the actor "had no sense of the cultural dynamic of the character he was playing". However, Mendez himself has said that he was unconcerned about the casting, and noted he does not identify as Hispanic. In addition, Affleck is nine inches taller than Mendez.
* AllStarCast: Most of the lead cast are name actors/actresses, including Creator/BenAffleck, Creator/BryanCranston, Creator/AlanArkin, Creator/JohnGoodman, Creator/VictorGarber, Creator/KyleChandler, Creator/ZeljkoIvanek, Creator/TateDonovan, Creator/TitusWelliver, Creator/CleaDuvall, [[Film/TheDarkKnight Keith Szarabajka]] and [[Series/CSIMiami Rory Cochrane]].
* ApprovalOfGod: President UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter, who oversaw the Hostage Crisis and the Canadian Caper, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt69Ya79veQ has commented]] often on the film and its accuracy.
* BackedByThePentagon: Creator/BenAffleck has stated that the production was granted unprecedented access to C.I.A. Headquarters, both for interiors and exteriors, and that the gratitude for that privilege belongs to Tony Mendez, the retired C.I.A. officer portrayed by Affleck in the film.
* BannedInChina: In Iran of course. [[StreisandEffect But bootleg copies are selling very well there.]]
** One could call it an {{Inverted|Trope}} [[PersonaNonGrata Banned From Argo.]]
* CaliforniaDoubling: Istanbul and Los Angeles double for post-revolutionary Tehran.
* TheDanza: Creator/JohnGoodman as John Chambers.
* DirectedByCastmember: Creator/BenAffleck both directed the film and starred as Tony Mendez.
* FakeMixedRace: Creator/BenAffleck as Tony Mendez.
* FocusGroupEnding: The film was criticized in its first airing at the Toronto International Film Festival for downplaying the role of the Canadian government during the hostage crisis and in its original postscript claiming that Canada's ambassador Ken Taylor took the credit for the rescue for diplomatic purposes. After this initial wave, Creator/BenAffleck called in the actual Ken Taylor to write the replacement postscript, saying the CIA operation complemented the Canadian Government's efforts and the affair remains a shining example of international cooperation in times of crisis.
* LifeImitatesArt: Just as this film (based on actual events) was released, US missions in Libya, Egypt and Sudan were attacked. Perhaps the greatest coincidence? The head of the US Embassy in Sudan, [[http://sudan.usembassy.gov/ambassador.html Joseph Stafford,]] was one of the house guests portrayed in the film. An interview with Stafford can be found [[http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/artist-reflects-on-tehran-hostage-crisis/2012/11/16/123dce8c-1ec1-11e2-9746-908f727990d8_story_2.html here.]]
** Contrary to some people's belief, Argo the fake movie is not named after Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato's American version.
* MethodActing: Creator/BenAffleck requested that the actors playing the embassy refugees live together for a week in a house dressed with 1979 decor in order to get acquainted and to better understand the period.
* RealitySubtext: "You can teach a Rhesus monkey to be a director in two days." This line is spoken to Creator/BenAffleck, himself the director of this movie.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** While Creator/ChrisTerrio was writing the script, he imagined Tony Mendez being played by Creator/GeorgeClooney.
** The script originally began by jumping directly into the protests outside the U.S. Embassy. However, Terrio and Creator/BenAffleck did not want the film to simply be a portrayal of irrationally crazy Middle Easterners. The opening credits and prologue, which details how the U.S. helped install the Shah in power, and the Shah's subsequent corruption and brutality, was created, so as to make the anger after the Iranian Revolution understandable, while not supporting the grossly illegal and immoral hostage taking at the embassy.
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