Body of Lies

A taut and engaging Middle Eastern thriller from Ridley Scott, who handles the political motivations just as well as the frenetic action scenes. BODY OF LIES is a modern-day counterpart to Scott's Crusader epic KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, revealing how the war between the East and West is nowadays fought through terror attacks and sinister subversion rather than all-out battles.

DiCaprio continues to develop as one of the most interesting actors of our age while Russell Crowe is cast against type as a shifty CIA controller. Although the on-the-ground operations, bombings and betrayals are as exciting as you'd expect, the film's real strength lies in the back story: namely, America's interference in cultures it doesn't fully understand or get to grips with. Add in another dignified performance from Mark Strong and you have a winning combination for a movie.

The film deals about a young spy named Roger Ferris(Leonardo DiCaprio), a CIA operative serving in Jordan. He's working for CIA chief named Ed Hoffman(Russell Crowe). Ed is a very occupied man, as efficient boss as father of family. The super-powerful CIA uses technological-gizmo-surveillance satellites for people spying and hound terrorists relentlessly. Ferris schemes a plot to chase the mastermind terrorist named Al Saleem . In Jordan Roger forms a shaky alliance with Hani (Mark Strong),the boss of Jordanian Intelligence to break the terrorist ring which are bombing civilian targets .Ferris try to stop cruel terrorist who plans terrorist bombings by means an uncanny masquerade . Meanwhile Ferris falls in love with a Palestine nurse and aid-worker named Aisha(Farahani).

Story's core is interesting and script is dense with information and drama. The ultra-brisk editing and rapid scenes movement leaves little time to consider some inadequacies. The picture is a crossover from 'the Siege'(98,Edward Zwick with Denzel Washington,Tony Shalhoub) about the dangerous terrorism Arab; 'Enemy of state' (1998, Tony Scott with Will Smith, Gene Hackman) dealing the modern surveillance systems and 'Spy game'(2001,Tony Scott with Brad Pitt, Robert Redford)concerning the spy-world on Middle East. Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe sustain interest in this tale of technology run amok and terrorism. DiCaprio is good as tough super-spy and Crowe's cool displaying a sarcastic performance. The use of geopolitical messages to add weight to a romantic subplot between the spy and the Palestine nurse , though feels a little forced and ,at times, excessive. The film packs adequate,evocative cinematography by Alexander Witt and agreeable musical score with Arabs overtones. The motion picture is well realized by Ridley Scott who has a career plenty of hits, as American gangster,Kingdom of heaven,Black Hawk down, Hannibal,Gladiator... Rating : Above average, well worth watching.

I'm starting to get what and especially why people praised Leonardo Di Caprio so much. He really holds the movie together here. It's a great script story, but with his charismatic performance he really gives it the extra edge it needs.

Ridley Scott has chosen a very peculiar story for (t)his movie. But he really treats it with much respect. His visual sense and his story-telling mastery combined with a great cast and the aforementioned script make up for a very interesting, entertaining, but still very complex and sophisticated! It's not something you can watch in-between doing other things. You do have to pay attention to what is happening to follow the story/plot. And I liked that very much :o)

The craftsmanship behind director Ridley Scott's 2008 convulsive political thriller is impressive, but having acts of terrorism drive an intentionally labyrinth plot reveals how they impede the story structurally, an insurmountable barrier that screenwriter William Monahan ("The Departed") can't seem to overcome. The movie's first half is all the more bewildering for all the double-crosses and cover-ups that serve to set up the central situation. Based on Washington Post columnist David Ignatius' 2007 novel, the movie focuses on embedded CIA operative Roger Ferris who is on an undercover assignment to hunt an Al-Qaeda terrorist leader named Al-Saleem. Ferris is not entirely alone as he is connected via cell phone with his stateside boss Ed Hoffman, who is the head of the CIA's Near East division and directs Ferris toward life-threatening tasks in a most nonchalant manner from his upscale suburban home.

The plot's impetus is driven by the elusive Al-Saleem's unblinking series of suicide bombings in Europe in response to the invasion by US and UK troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The movie gets more interesting when Ferris decides to work with Jordanian intelligence director Hani Salaam, an erudite, enigmatic figure who is well entrenched in the Middle East militia and appears to take a page from Mario Puzo's "The Godfather" when it comes to loyalty and betrayal. Of course, it's a matter of course that Ferris' loyalty is tested when an elaborate plan is hatched to create a bogus competing terrorist group and use an unwitting Dubai architect as the head. The other complicating factor is that Ferris has fallen for pretty Iranian nurse Aisha when he gets treated for possible rabies at a clinic. It becomes inevitable that she also becomes a pawn in the political intrigue. Scott paints his canvas with a lot of graphic violence from large-scale bombings to more intimate acts of torture.

All of the external elements are fitting, but they can't seem to masquerade the convoluted and often cliché-ridden plot at the film's core. A solid cast goes a long way to compensate for the plot holes. As Ferris, Leonardo DiCaprio applies his trademark wiry energy to an intensely compelling performance that could have shown a bit more variety. Adding fifty belly-stretching pounds to his frame, Russell Crowe, Scott's favorite leading man ("Gladiator", "American Gangster", "A Good Year"), plays the Arkansan Hoffman as a scene-stealing character part. The irony is that the Australian actor's Southern accent is more convincing than DiCaprio's. Their antagonistic interplay, played out mostly on the phone, is rather predictably developed. Fetching Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani provides gratefully calm relief to the ongoing mayhem as Aisha, although her character comes across as a mere plot device. There is a nicely fractious dinner table scene with Ferris and her judgmental older sister, although the movie plays down the more human-size hostilities in favor of the pyrotechnics.

As Hani, Mark Strong ("Sunshine", "Stardust") leaves the most vivid impression of the cast but for the most old-fashioned of cinematic reasons - he plays what could be a villainous figure as a suave, mysterious man of honor who is completely on top of his job, an intentional counterpoint, at least physically, to Crowe's slovenly Hoffman. The film's resolution defies credibility, but it finally becomes clear that Monahan is not interested in exposing the factors that have driven the Middle East political maelstrom into acts of escalating terrorism. Rather, his screenplay shows that testosterone-driven Hollywood-style entertainment can take place anywhere.

Just finished watching Body of Lies (2008) for the first time ever and I surprisingly liked this movie while also acknowledging that it has some flaws.

Positives for Body of Lies (2008): This movie has a similar vibe and approach to its story like Black Hawk Down (2001) which was also directed by Ridley Scott. There is a sense of tension whenever our main character is on his mission. Leonardo DiCaprio is great as Roger Ferris which isn't surprising given he is one of the best actors of all time. Russell Crowe does an equally great job with his performance as Ed Hoffman and he has a great dynamic with DiCaprio. The movie's cinematography has this dirty gritty look that matches the tone of the movie. And finally, I appreciate that this movie feels like an old class spy thriller movie.

Negatives for Body of Lies (2008): The villains of this movie are not all that interesting or even intimidating at all. There are some performances that feel flat and dull. The movie lost my attention by the time I reached the climax. And finally, the ending to this movie felt dull and disappointing.

Overall, Body of Lies (2008) is a decent spy thriller movie that I won't mind rewatching in the future.