Obviously timely in the wake of attacks on American embassies throughout the Muslim world, Ben Affleck’s Argo recounts one of those formerly lost stories of history—lost, because it was never fully told until recently. When six Americans escaped the U.S. embassy in Tehran as it was being raided in 1979, the CIA had to act quietly to remove them from the home of the Canadian ambassador, where they fled. The official story about these refugees was not the real one. The real story, apparently, is that the CIA feigned a film production and attempted to smuggle out our six diplomats—out in the open—as members of a movie crew. Ben Affleck’s skills as a director now match his ascension: While Gone Baby Gone and The Town are quality, Argo is well-paced, focused, taut and absolutely terrific.