On Nov. 4, 1979, Iranian revolutionaries storm the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage. Amid the chaos, six Americans manage to slip away and find refuge with the Canadian ambassador. However, knowing that it's only a matter of time before the refugees are found and very likely executed, the government calls on extractor Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) to rescue them. Mendez's plan: to pose as a Hollywood film producer scouting locations in Iran and use the refugees as his ``crew.''