Body of Lies
Movie details
He is the best man US Intelligence has on the ground, a sophisticated operative negotiating hot zones while no one close to him makes it out alive. But Roger Ferris is a man with no identity beyond his last blown cover, trusting his life to the dispassionate voice on the other end of a secure phone line.
CIA veteran Ed Hoffman wages war from a laptop in his living room in the suburbs, dictating Ferris's movements even as he dodges bullets on the ground. An emerging terrorist leader has orchestrated a global campaign of bombings, ding the most sophisticated intelligence network in the world.
Director Ridley Scott
Stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong, Carice van Houten, Vince Colosimo
Strong violence
Our review
In "Body of Lies", Ridley Scott delivers a well-paced and well-acted action-thriller, cleverly working his two leads against each other for optimum tension and effect.
The film is based on a novel about a CIA agent, Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) who, while on assignment in the Middle East, uncovers a lead on the location of a major terrorist cell leader, suspected to be operating out of Jordan. With his manipulative and calculating boss, Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe), pulling the strings behind the scenes, Ferris must navigate the dark world of Middle East politics and espionage, while maintaining his last shreds of principle.
Ridley Scott is a master of the slow-burn story (think "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"), as well as the big budget action flick ("Gladiator"). However, he also knows when to let go and allow the movie to develop naturally, which in this case, manages to avoid the "us vs the terrorists", chest-beating Americanism, so blatant in the recent, similarly themed "The Kingdom".
DiCaprio has the mortgage on the action-hero-with-a-conscience protagonist, which he put to such good use in "Blood Diamond". Crowe is edgy, but more restrained here, managing to avoid the dullness generated in the last collaboration between him and the director - the very bland "A Good Year".
Support characters are excellent, with a standout Mark Strong playing the chief of Jordanian covert operations. The theme of Ferris' love interest isn't overplayed and adds just the right amount of pathos. Watch out, too, for Aussie Vince Colosimo, who has clearly moved onto bigger things after a terrific turn in "Underbelly".
The only minor fault is the ending, which feels a little soft, but otherwise "Body of Lies" is tight, tense and terrific.
8/10
Yury Glikin
In compiling yourTime content, HWW relies upon information supplied by a number of sources. yourTime content is supplied on the basis that while HWW believes that all the information in it will be correct at time of publishing, it does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.
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