An early favourite for Best Picture at the 2013 Academy Awards, Ben Affleck’s latest directorial venture is a masterclass in taut storytelling, tension and genuine full throttle excitement. By turns gripping, funny and moving, Argo is not to be missed on the big screen.

Based on true events, Argo tells the remarkable story surrounding the 1979 storming of the American Embassy in Tehran. During the attack, carried out by anti-US Iranian civilians, six American employees manage to escape, taking refuge in the nearby Canadian embassy. After seventy days CIA operative Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) is brought in to come up with a plan which will get “the six” – as they become known – out safely before the Iranian militia realise they are missing.

Inspired by catching Planet of the Apes on TV late one night, Tony comes up with an ingenious idea: the CIA funds a fake sci-fi film which calls for a desert location, Tony flies into Tehran – masquerading as a Canadian producer – and the six are flown out safely with him, playing along as his film crew.

With scant options and time running out Tony’s ambitious plan gets the official go-ahead, at which point Alan Arkin’s Hollywood producer Lester Siegel, John Goodman’s prosthetics artist John Chambers and a schlocky B-movie script – ‘Argo’ – are brought in for the sake of verisimilitude. All the while, the Iranian militia grows closer to discovering that there are six Americans missing from the embassy.

It’s somewhat surprising that this material hasn’t been filmed before. The story (declassified by Clinton in 1997) is truly a filmmaker’s gift, packed to the rafters with tension, high stakes, human interest and – at the hands of Arkin and Goodman – humour. In the hands of a less able director, though, the story behind Argo could have easily been translated into ham-fisted melodrama.

Because part of what makes Affleck’s take on the tale such a success is its underplayed approach. Though we are constantly reminded of what’s at stake, this is not a film which deals in hysteria. It’s solid and well-paced, built upon stoic, subtle performances and a script that favours naturalism wherever possible. Indeed, one of the most affecting moments is where one of the six declares softly to her husband – in between jokes – that she’s scared. It’s a simple moment but completely earned and utterly convincing.

Similarly well executed are the thrills, from the opening sequence – an expertly executed crowd scene in which the furious crowd storms the embassy, observed in silent horror by its inhabitants – to the nail-biting climax.

Ultimately, the real beauty of Argo is that – as with most films that transcend the norms – it is truly multi-faceted, all at once a generous and fond satire of Hollywood, a slick thriller and an emotionally-charged story that is simply about normal people being brave in extraordinary circumstances.

Perhaps there’s nothing tremendously surprising or innovative here but as a whole, Argo is a film which boasts so many strong performances (the ensemble cast includes Bryan Cranston, Kyle Chandler, Philip Baker Hall and newcomer Scoot McNairy) and such stylish, confident direction that – despite its relatively conventional approach – it’s hard not to enjoy being taken along for the ride.

Released in UK cinemas on Wednesday 7 November 2012 by Warner Bros.