8. Tony Hugs His Son In Argo
The Moment: After completing a near-impossible mission to rescue Americans trapped in an incredibly irate Iran; Tony Mendez returns home and through absolutely no relevant emotional need, hugs his son in an apparently emotionally uplifting moment.
The Stupidity: Its here where I should explain that its not just characters doing stupid things that makes this list, its all manner of things that have no conceivable explanation beyond stupid film-making; hence why this scene is included. I absolutely loved Argo, its a brilliant movie and a great introduction for someone who had never watched a Ben Affleck directorial effort before; but this scene had me burying my head in my hands. Very little emotional edge was given to the Tony Mendez character beyond him being desperate to prove his nay-sayers wrong, which is something I was happy to buy in to. But apparently it was not something the films writers were happy to buy in to, attaching a whole I need to get back to my son angle as well as a misguided earning son's approval kind of thing as well. This was a cheap way of trying to engage people in a simple way that just turned out to be a farcically stupid moment. If Tony was so desperate to be with his son, why didnt he just do what was apparently so difficult before the time consuming trip to Iran and fly to go see him? How could his son and wife suddenly be so proud of something that was entirely confidential? This film was brilliant, up until this miserable little aside.