Body Of Lies Movie
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Storyline
TAGLINES
Trust no one. Deceive everyone.
Trust no one.
Roger Ferris uncovers a lead on a major terrorist leader suspected to be operating out of Jordan.
| Leonardo DiCaprio | Roger Ferris |
| Russell Crowe | Ed Hoffman |
| Mark Strong | Hani |
| Golshifteh Farahani | Aisha |
| Oscar Isaac | Bassam |
| Ali Suliman | Omar Sadiki |
| Alon Abutbul | Al-Saleem |
| Vince Colosimo | Skip |
| Simon McBurney | Garland |
| Mehdi Nebbou | Nizar |
| Michael Gaston | Holiday |
| Kais Nashif | Mustafa Karami |
| Jamil Khoury | Marwan |
| Lubna Azabal | Aisha's Sister Cala |
| Ghali Benlafkih | Aisha's Nephew Rowley |
| Ridley Scott |
7.40 out of 10 (19459 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Two Dimensions
posted on 28 Aug 2009This is relatively standard fare, and I'd hoped for more from this team. But there is one very potent concept touched on, and it's in the way Ridley uses the medium itself to express his disdain for all of us.My most disturbing personal memory of the Iraq war is watching the first attack on TV. I did nothing to stop it. I stood by and watched as if it were any old fall drama. And that's what it was, to me and to most Americans. They marketed the war to us like network execs... "Watch a campaign of shock and awe" -- and we did. Like catatonics.And until we count the balance in family lost, safety forfeited, dollars lost (real dollars, not funny money), the war means nothing to us. We're a complacent people who see two dimensions when there are so many more. And today, we experience life more on these two-dimensional surfaces than we do in three. Computers, TVs, movie screens. A replacement for reality. Almost an assembly manual for modern reality.So, here Ridley plays the game with us, and shows us how horrifying this this modern world really is. Russell is the American mastermind. He runs the war on a giant monitor, much like a film director sitting in an editing room, deciding what goes where, who stays, who goes. He watches it unfold with frightening apathy, entertained, as if it were all inconsequential; and we, the audience, detest him for it. It's reality anaesthesized into unreality -- that's the real lie.But the joke's on us because here we are again, watching a giant screen ourselves, delighting in the explosions, the chases, gunfights, the bone fragments, bulletholes, smashed fingers -- yet again we're entertained by a disconnected world that has no direct bearing on our lives. Not until our friend's bone fragments are lodged under our own skin. Russell does an exceptional job as the gluttonous couch potato, a.k.a., the audience.
Body of Lies (Part I & II)
posted on 28 Aug 2009Body of LiesBy Mike V.Derderian, The Star, February 23, 2009 The title of this movie is an understatement; it should rather be "bodies of lies" piled up, not too far different from the photos of piled up Iraqi prisoners being humiliated and tortured by sadist marines and private US contractors at Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq in 2003.Here is a quick rundown of its utterly clichéd storyline: Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a CIA operative sent to "Amman, Jordan" to hunt down Islamist leader Al Saleem (Alon Aboutboul)—no, not Al Gore! Ferris' superior is hammy Langley officer Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe). With the help of a very fictional and unbelievable Chief of Jordanian Intelligence, Hani Salaam (Mark Strong), Ferris goes after the terrorist cell stationed in Amman.No sooner had Amman flashed on the black screen the moment Ferris arrived, I saw a city that I haven't been living in for the past 26 years. Where have all the olive oil trees gone! The so called "Amman" scenes were shot in Ouarzazate and Rabat in Morocco. Hey, did we switch countries after the New Year—cause nobody told this Jordanian! One more thing, the American embassy in Amman certainly looks different. Last time I passed by it in Abdoun there was no stadium behind; it but it was still heavily armed.Did Scott ever come to Jordan! Mind you if there were any Jordanian efforts involved in making this banal film they should be prosecuted…period! By the way, the head of the Jordanian General Intelligence Directorate wouldn't pour coffee to a guest even if it was Leonardo DiCaprio; they have employees to do that and are quite hospitable if you ever had the pleasure of visiting them.The dialog is as hackneyed as it gets. Obviously some clever person in the production team realized that Golshifteh Farahani, Aisha, the "Jordanian girl" Ferris meets, looked more Iranian than Jordanian so they decided to throw the following line to be delivered by Ferris himself, "Are you Iranian? Your accent is Iranian?" The person, who wrote this cinematic debacle and bad PR, David Ignatius (novel) and William Monahan (screenplay) should be banned from penning another script for the rest of their lives.They shamed their craft. "Jordanian piece of Poontang"! Is this the proper way to refer to our Jordanian girls even if it is said by the most politically incorrect American operative-cum-character in cinema history. We might as well call every American girl we meet an easy score—trailer park-white-trash-redneck-ready for bedding bimbo.Aside from the fanatics, who helped distort our image in the West and vice versa, Scott did a fine job in hiding the magnificence and beauty of our Amman under non-existent piles of cinematic scenes…oops I meant trash.The artistic merits of this film are very minimal as is the accuracy of the research put into creating its storyline, architectural or geographical settings. "I and the public know what all school children learn: Those to whom evil is done do evil in return," is a quote by W. H. Auden which appears at the beginning of Ridley Scott's movie.When you blow up someone's house, kill his children and take his land away, he will certainly avenge himself—it is called resistance. No one dubbed the French resistance terrorists… except for the Nazis.My first question is: How did a movie that refers to our Hashemite Monarchy as "Towel Head Monarchy" get screened in Amman? According to the manager of a cinema in Amman it got edited and the edited version is available at the Audio Visual Commission (AVC)!Hollywood is renowned for discarding facts for fiction and any avid movie fan would know this and there are many movies that are filled with factual errors and fallacies that I will review in columns dedicated to this purpose.At the movies, one has to suspend his imagination the same way a trapeze artist suspends his partner; our hands are placed over our hearts in anticipation: When will he drop her? Body of Lies is the fallen trapeze artist and she is dead—no longer satisfied with spandex wearing and gun totting villains with over-sized brains before and since the 9/11 events Hollywood opted for the Arab villain.In the beginning we had Nazis (World War II era), Russians (Cold War era), Palestinians (Palestinian-Israeli conflict era), back to Russians (James Bond movies era), Arabs (with Arabic- English accents in True Lies era), Aliens (probably of Arab ancestry) and finally Islamic Jihadists (post 9/11 era).Mind you Hollywood always hires Pakistani and Indian actors to play us. Thanks to unknown Arab actors, who provide their voices in those films, such callous villains materialize on screen and are forever ingrained in the minds of foreign movie goers.One of the painful things to watch in Body of Lies is when Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio), the CIA operative sent to chase Al Saleem, meets up with Hani Salaam Pasha (Mark Strong), head of the Jordanian Intelligence in a place full of trash—mountains of human waste amidst chaotic edifices. If you've been to Jordan you know we don't have mountains of piled up trash. We also don't have flies—OK, now I am lying.Aren't you sick of American producers, who take our own stories, tragedies and eventful lives and turn them into no more than bodies of lies like in this movie!On a finale note: Dear Mr Scott, just because you were not able to secure a shoot at the castle of Karak for your Kingdom of Heaven, at a reasonable price, doesn't mean you have the right to trash my country the way you did with your Body of Lies.
Layers finally ...
posted on 26 Aug 2009I seldom see American films these days. I don't because they are products they've lost the charisma and the power, with fewer and fewer exception. This film instead is not just an exception, it's an important film, not only for his great technical qualities but because it talks about something important: Americans do not know how to fight a war, and they are incapable to accept criticism on this and other matters. In this story we can see it clearly through the different characters: Hoffman and Ferris. Hoffman is "global" while Ferris speaks the language and tries to understand how to do things. Hoffman needs to get results quickly, his way, yet he is unwilling to learn from his own mistakes. Ferris understands he will get results only adapting to the local factors and context. Their dialogs are not "funny" they are tragic. Why Hoffman does not understand? Because he believes there is no way but the American way. Therefore he fights but he does not need to understand his enemy. He looses but he never wonders what moves the enemy and why. Not knowing this points leads to defeat. It happened almost all the time after WW2. Machines do not win any war. But Americans seems to miss this point. Reading reviews and some comments here it feels as if the lines in the film, the scenes are "just" parts of a great action film. While to me the "birds eye view", the satellite images show me that watching and understanding what we see are very different matters. In the film it feels as if the watching happens but a proper usage of the images is just not there.Properly this film requires minimal knowledge of geography, international politics, cultural differences, poverty, and more. Too much for the standard American and his average education. This perhaps explains the poor success of this film: 31,757,483 ... not much. I was very sad when I left the cinema, because of the distinct message all over the film: "we don't understand our enemy we are loosing but we aren't aware of it". Yet I got sadder as I read the American reviews and the comments generally centred about the cinematic issues: acting, effects, story flow, when they got bored, how better it could have been if ... and so on. Not a word about the content behind the acting, the camera work and the script qualities ... what happened to your once upon a time great promised land? What is it? Greed, The stock, exchange, the large ocean keeping you apart from the rest of the world? What happened along the way?
Enjoyable, not amazing.
posted on 26 Aug 2009Another middle east terrorism film, Ridley Scott's Body of Lies is actually enjoyable. There have been a whole slew of these things lately, including Rendition, Traitor, The Kite Runner, and movies about War and today's soldiers like Stop-Loss and Lions for Lambs. The middle east is popular these days, or unpopular, whatever it may be, tons of movies are coming out that take place there and have some relationship with terrorism, religion, and war. Body of Lies sort of sums a lot of these things up, considering many of the angles that were each the focus of one of these other films. Although in doing so it doesn't make as strong a point as the others which very simply illustrate ONE THING so that it's very clear to the viewer. Body of lies considers all of these things and carefully weaves much of it in to the overarching plot of the film. The result is a very engaging enjoyable film that is no slouch in it's depth, but also no hard hitting political statement. Within the run of these movies Body of Lies was one of the most consistently enjoyable and overall well balanced films. I would definitely recommend it to someone looking for the pleasure of an adventure movie that's more than just action, or maybe to someone who likes to think about international relations, terrorism, and morality, but I would NOT go to this movie to be inspired or enlightened.I saw this and then went to Sex Drive, and the combination made for an evening of good fun, which has been lacking in my trips to the theater of late. If that's what you're looking for, check em out!See more of my reviews and other things at afoxdrinksblood.livejournal.com
Too close to the truth.
posted on 24 Aug 2009Most people know the motto of the CIA is: "The truth will set you free." Conversely do lies make one captive? The intrinsic problem is how (or if) one can tell the difference. In this instance, Di Caprio, Crowe and Scott make this conundrum all too real.In the central thesis of this film lies a problem that predates the CIA and the intelligence gathering communities of the world. It is the enduring conflict of religion testing the mettle of its non-believers. Referred to in the film as "infidels", are those of the Islamic world trying to rule the rest of the world until all others are "bled dry", or is it just dirty politics fed to the masses via the film media?Even deeper is the question: who can you trust? The ball crosses the net several times in the film. In the end does the ball go out of bounds or is it "fair game?" Ferris seeks to draw the enemy into perspective by technology while the enemy uses messengers to convey clandestine plans which is the oldest and most secure form of communication. Ferris finds trust in Jordan and solace in the company of a woman from Persian culture. Is he betraying "the company" or is he seeking relief from it?As the story plays out, the ego of the "terrorist mastermind" gets the better of him as he crosses a line drawn by himself. Ferris senses that Hoffman is just a presser of manipulative buttons and discovers that betrayal is a truth that does not set him free but takes him captive. Whether or not the CIA can literally "spy" on anyone is a moot point. Nevertheless, the creation of the film makes this probability a fear-inspiring statement of what ifs and suspension of disbelief. Some are certain that elements portrayed in this are real while others hope it is not. As such, the title may be a true lie.
one of many lately
posted on 22 Aug 2009This was a reasonably intelligent, adult film. Its aim was to be didactic, and in a couple of speeches the attempt to teach us "what it all means" was a bit overdone and unnatural.Ridley Scott seems to favor expansive, majestic establishing shots. After the third or fourth time we see titles announcing: "Langley" along with a sweeping (unnecessary) shot of the Pentagon, or "Amman" with a shot of SUVs cruising up to an impressive building, this technique becomes predictable and wearisome.Of the many movies lately dealing with America's role in the Muslim world, espionage, terrorism, etc., this compares favorably. Nothing from the past few years, however, has improved on Battle of Algiers.
You can't trust a spy during war time
posted on 20 Aug 2009(Synopsis) Roger Ferris, Leonardo DiCaprio, is a CIA covert operative working in Jordan searching for terrorists who have been bombing civilian targets. Ferris uncovers information on the Islamist mastermind Al-Saleem (Alon Aboutboul). He devises a plan to infiltrate Al-Saleem's terrorist network with the help of his boss back in Langley, Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe). Ferris enlists the help of the Chief of Jordanian Intelligence, Hani Salaam (Mark Strong) on this operation. But he doesn't know how far he can trust him without putting his life in danger. During war time, a spy doesn't know who he can trust, not even his own people.(My Comment) The film explores the conflict between the West vs. Arab conflict. The setup gives enough time for character development of the rough-and-tumble CIA operative, Roger Ferris, who is fluent in Arabic and works in the treacherous streets of the Middle East. Leonardo DiCaprio does an excellent job in portraying this dedicated CIA operative. Russell Crowe, on the other hand, basically phoned in his part. The film is realistic in that it shows that a democracy is an easy target to the terrorist. The film is full of action with shootouts, car chases, and big explosions about every 10 minutes. There are several interrogation scenes that are very brutal and graphic. (Warner Bros. Pictures, Run Time 2:09, Rated R)(8/10)
Engrossing and engaging conflict driven thriller
posted on 18 Aug 2009War films have always been a spectacle at the movies. While a hurried deliberation, may give the assumption that movies based upon wartime and conflict would have a narrower audience then those films portraying less heavy subject matter, the contrary is often the case. War films often cater to a larger base then credit is given, as some will flock to see a piece of history, others to see the love-soaked romance that Hollywood was wedged in-between the blood-soaked battles, others like the action, and others the drama. Maybe most of all, it is the fact that movies centered around hostile circumstances often bear the truest of heroes and the vilest of villains that piques the interest of the every-man. However, contrary to past conflicts, that of the Middle East seems to be the opposite of what people define as righteous and what sparks wonderment. And while I have to agree, that should not discourage people from delving into the situation on a purely cinematic level, to better understand and to form their own opinion, especially when viewing a movie as well crafted as Ridley Scott's Body of Lies.When examining cross-sections of the Iraqi conflict it is difficult and important not to portray the locals as faceless murderers, as most are just citizens who want the war to end, and detest terrorism as much as everyone. Body of Lies does this well, by giving us a central antagonist, but a number of Arab allies as well; something that last years The Kingdom did less effectively. If anything, you can draw more similarities with the Don Cheadle film Traitor, which are both more of a window into a situation, then a gimmicky and one-sided battle film. Ridley Scott's follow-up to the sensational American Gangster is about as contradictory as one could expect, but if history has shown us anything it is that Scott is not constrained to a single genre. This feature is a typically sharply written and slow burning effort, with the usual interlay of fiery skirmishes and emotional confrontations that piques interest and demands intelligent thought.Leonardo DiCaprio continues his string of excellent performances as Roger Ferris a CIA operative working in Jordan and other parts of the Middle East who is attempting to net an illusive terrorist bomber named Al-Saleem who has dropped off the grid using low-tech methods of operation. Providing support, mostly from over-seas while taking his kids to soccer, is the pompous Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe, who is merely solid in this effort) who cannot help but interfere with Ferris' tactics. Deciding to somewhat distance himself from Hoffman, Ferris enlists the aid of the Jordan Chief of Intelligence Hani Salaam (Mark Strong) who demands nothing but loyalty, to entrap and track Al-Saleem. Complicating things is a lovely nurse Aisha (Golshifteh Farahani) who looks after Ferris after his latest scuffle. But lies are rampant in Jordan, and Ferris soon learns he cannot trust anyone and must test how far he can go to without destroying everything he believes and everyone he cares for.There are not so much twists in Body of Lies, as there are intelligent revelations, which eliminate the need to manipulate the storyline simply for the final hurrah. Something audiences seem to miss with movies like this is that they are often not directly about the war, but about the people, their lives and the cost which everyone pays. While not without foibles, Body of Lies is solid intelligent entertainment, and those looking for a dumbed down splatter fest should look elsewhere. Framed by the performances and highlighted by the glossy action and poignant dialogue, Body of Lies never seems one sided, yet never seems like a cop-out, it is fully realized entertainment that pulls truth from its lies.
Intelligent and thought-provoking with great performances
posted on 18 Aug 2009I'm not a teenage boy, so I didn't see this movie only to watch stuff blow up. I had expected something more "guy" oriented - with lots of tough guys and action, and it had those things, but in addition, it's super intelligent (how can you not like a movie that starts with lines from a poem by W.H. Auden?) and I thought it was perfectly cast. I thought Leonardo Dicaprio gave another bravura performance. Sort of cross between his characters in The Departed (though he's less twitchy and strung out here), and Blood Diamond (though he's less arrogant and less cynical too). I think the movie combines the best elements of previous films on this topic - for example, it's less Hollywoody than The Kingdom and less deliberately confusing than Syriana. Turns out it's based on a novel by Washington Post reporter David Ignatius, which would explain why it's so smart. And directed by Ridley Scott, who can generally be depended on to make a very watchable movie. It's a tiny bit long and the violence is very realistic (not a problem for some, but I covered my eyes more than once), but overall, it's really worth seeing.
Like watching the Amazing Race.... with gunplay
posted on 12 Aug 2009Based on the 2007 spy novel by David Ignatius, Body of Lies tells the story of a CIA operative Roger Ferris (DiCaprio) who is sent to Jordan to track down an Al-Qaeda mastermind, all the while treading a narrow tightrope of loyalty to his Jordanian hosts and his manipulative American boss Ed Hoffman (Crowe).Anybody who's seen the trailers could be forgiven for thinking the story revolves around double-agent action and the betrayal of Ferris by Hoffman, but the actual story is much more mundane. Instead we are served a tepid broth of ridiculous subterfuge as white pretty boy American Ferris moves with virtual impunity through the teeming streets of Amman Jordan with nary a worried look over his shoulder or the attraction of attention from the locals. Only during a scene where Ferris takes his new-found Iranian sweetheart out for tea does reality intrude as the couple are bombarded with glares from Jordanian men.Compounding the film's problems are plot twists and turns which seem designed as nothing more than padding. Ferris flies to Jordan, Ferris gets expelled from Jordan, Ferris flies to Washington, Ferris flies to the UK, Ferris flies back to Jordan, Hoffman flies to Jordan, Hoffman returns home to take care of his kids – an on it goes. This is the sort of stuff you expect to see in an episode of The Amazing Race, not a spy thriller.In body-punishing loyalty to his craft, Crowe gained an impressive 63 pounds of flab for the role of portly Ed Hoffman, thus joining the small select club of actors consisting of Robert De Niro and Christian Bale as thespians who've subjected themselves to massive weight gain or loss for their roles. It's too bad that everyone else involved didn't share Crowe's level of dedication to quality, for if they did, we'd have a far better film on our hands than this sub-par mess.
Better than the previews
posted on 12 Aug 2009I hesitated going to see this movie mostly because of the aggressive advertising campaign, which presented this film as a Russel Crowe/Leonardo Dicaprio showdown with big explosions and snippy one-liners. Luckily the movie turned out to be much more innovative and thought-provoking than that. For one thing, as it plays out, the really captivating acting was between Dicaprio and Mark Strong. Generally, movies dealing heavily with war tactics don't hold much interest with me, but this one points out some interesting mistakes in the American tactics for resolving conflicts in other countries. There are great lessons to learn about relying on technology when doing surveillance on an enemy that gets messages around by putting little paper notes in empty disposable coffee cups. Also, as the title implies, the most intriguing topics in this movie deal with how America's intelligence agency has problems sharing information with the agencies in other countries - even when they are fighting the same enemy. On top of all the heavy issues, the movie is also a great ride with everything from moments of extreme excitement, fear and horror to comedic turns, romance and cultural appreciation scenes. My only small complaint regarding the story line would be squeezing in the typical romantic interest for the lead as "the nurse" to "the soldier", but she does turn out to be important for the story later.
Thriller for sophisticated viewers not teenage crowd
posted on 12 Aug 2009Body of Lies is an adult thriller with such a convoluted storyline that even a brief trip to the restroom results in key plot points being lost. It both demands and rewards thought. It involves current events and has a political viewpoint, but it overplays neither. It isn't going to find much favor among the teenage crowd but it is a motion picture that older, more sophisticated viewers hunger for. It is consistently well paced and it exhibits more of what we expect from a thriller: tension and suspense. There's nothing suave or dignified in the ways these characters interact, and the characters in this film seem like real people – not like James Bond.It is not exist only in the realm of fiction; it's possible that things like those depicted in Body of Lies are happening now in the real world. And probably that's why a distressful scene has been introduced late in the movie. Everything is well balanced and for that just one scene of levity and a little light romance have been added.None of the recent movies which focused on the current unstable geopolitical situation have done it as effectively as Body of Lies and almost none are as free of preaching.I am not going to talk about what are ideas behind the movie and if those are right or wrong or why a half Iranian nurse has been introduced as a lover into the movie. I am not going to highlights mistakes, like the accent of the nurse. Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) can tell that a nurse working in Amman is from Iran (and she says she is half-Iranian) based on her accent. Actually, Iranians are speaking Persian which a completely different language than Arabic – it is closer to English than Arabic from the linguistic point of view. But this half-Iranian nurse, who has grown up in Amman and speaks Arabic at home with her sister and Nephews couldn't have accent as a man with Persian mother tongue can have when speaking Arabic.Although Leonardo DiCaprio gives strong performance, I don't think he will be nominated for Oscar as a result of his work here, as he is not in line with what Academy is looking for, this will be same as what happened to him for Blood Diamond and The Departed.For those who love a thriller more than pointless car chases and over-edited fight sequences, Body of Lies offers a satisfying dose of mind stimulation and truth, where the viewer is not always two steps ahead of the characters.
Slick action - excellently done.
posted on 12 Aug 2009Ridley Scott directs and produces another fine piece of cinema after the gritty realism of American Gangster. The star-cast of Di Caprio and Crowe certainly raise the profile of this film but it is the slick screenplay and camera-work, which makes this stand-out.Roger Ferris (Di Caprio) is a CIA agent on the ground in the Middle-East trying to discover and avert further terrorist attacks. Back in the US Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) is Ferris's controller issuing instructions.The opening monologue to the film is written matter-of-factly and informatively and quickly conveys the real troubles facing the world of today. Di Caprio as always is in good form as Ferris a man of logic and practicality. Crowe although very much in a supporting-role is good as Hoffman who seeks unequivocal results in a rather laissez-fare manner.Mark Strong is the actor with the greatest gravitas as the Jordanian 'director' of intelligence Hani Salaam , providing a striking figure of authority and ambiguity and is the stand-out performance. A mention should also be made of Farahani who captures her role well.There are not many faults with Body of Lies it has an intelligent script, intense action and character interplay which will keep you occupied to the very end. Body of Lies is a masterful piece of cinema which I very much enjoyed.
lies a body but not perfect
posted on 12 Aug 2009you see the movie and you realize from d beginning that its one of those spy films you have seen earlier but Ridley Scott has done fairly decent job wid the spy in all parts of d world except fr Jordan where d major drama lies, a some kind of super rich person having all the powers in Palestine trying to contain these terrorists but no terrorist group is getting aware of him who r givin sleepless nights 2 d whole world but not this man. Actingwise everyone was gud but the movie lacked the chilling quotient nd also the love track introduced wid Leo was not that convincing and shows the weakness of script.To me it was an average fair wid gud screenplay and worth watching once.
Make it stop
posted on 10 Aug 2009Another war-on-terror thriller. A CIA agent hunting for a terrorist gets in trouble when his boss does something stupid and has to find alternative ways of finding his target. Apart from the political edge this film has nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, that hasn't been done by any of the other war-on-terror films the last 7 years.I will have to admit that it is acted out quite nicely, and as a fantasy story it works out well too - it could be real and it looks real. But it comes in a time when there are too many films just like it and thereby becomes a thirteen in a dozen political thriller. Therefore, it doesn't amuse, it doesn't make one think, it doesn't leave one with a profound insight into the grim reality, it doesn't thrill or keep one tight to his/her seat. It doesn't do anything. It goes in the one ear and out the other and that is a bit of a shame.To make a film like this work one should search for different enemies in different places and search for different threats to different targets. Maybe then it'll be new again, but now it's only rehashed old stuff and it is getting staler than stale.5 out of 10 bored camels
Obvious, trite, boring
posted on 06 Aug 2009Well the acting is mainly poor to bad. The plot, though, is obvious, trite and boring. Yes, Yankland Uber Alles is the entire theme. You can see that the author thinks that it's clever, but it fails completely to be so.They want to make the point that Yanks kill people in other countries whilst having normal lives at home. Fine, it is wicked, we know that, but do we really need to spend so much time having this simple point rubbed into the ground again, and again, and again?Foreign johnnies are, of course, there simply to be that, foils for the Yanks. They are portrayed as having even simpler minds than those of the simpletons who are the star actors - one bases his entire judgment of people on whether they 'lie to him'.I think that, mainly, we're supposed to be impressed by how advanced the war is - now there are even Yanks who speak Arabic. Wow. Two hours for that..!
Hurried and choppy
posted on 04 Aug 2009I was disappointed in this movie from one of my favorite genres. The story was there, the performances were good (with one exception) and the dialog sharp. But there was just too much fast-paced action, too many clipped cell-phone calls, too many cars skidding to a stop with tires squealing. It seemed like the director was double parked. It's hard to tell a coherent story with short action-filled scenes, quick cuts to truncated cell-phone calls and surveillance views, especially when the plot is so convoluted with twists, lies, double-crosses and surprises every few minutes..and I knew the basic story from having read the book. I felt that the nurse character was played too lightly, almost an airhead. A good movie if you are the kind of person who is always in a hurry, if you like martial arts and Lethal Weapon movies. Not so good if you liked Breach, Ken Follett or Tom Clancy movies.
The 'New' Adventure film!
posted on 04 Aug 2009The new Ridley Scott flick, "Body of Lies" left me definitely more impressed then I thought I'd be, I came out of the theater wholly satisfied. The movie is a prime example Modern Adventure -- and diCaprio is the only one who can play the modern hero well enough to pull it off. "Body of Lies" is a very well filmed story that is totally serious but never too overwhelming, with enough vagueness to convey the fantastic world it takes place in. This is one of the best Ridley Scott films I've seen. I was impressed how he added the love element so well to such a bleak world, it in a way made the movie more timeless and complete. I would recommend this to any movie fan.
A Good movie that could have been a lot better.
posted on 04 Aug 2009I respect Ridley Scott as a director. He is one of the best active directors around, and while he's in his 70's he can still put out movies that entertain us, even though they don't come up to the level of movies like "Alien" and "Blade Runner" that Scott used to put out in the highpoint of his career. In Body Of Lies it feels like he... isn't as interested in making a really good movie, The directing feels rushed, and we don't get to see any beautiful shots of Iraq, or anything like that. The writing is good, the story is good but I feel that the love story should have gotten a bigger part, because it's a subject that really needs to be discussed, two people who can't love each other because of their religion. And I couldn't feel any real emotions between the characters. The acting is great, DiCaprio, while sometimes seems to just copy all of his other characters lately, makes a believable performance and manages to carry the movie on his shoulders. Crowe is one of the best actors of his generation and he is great here as well. But I feel that he is trying to much, he is practically screaming: "Give Me An Oscar!" So to end this review, Body Of Lies had a lot of potential, but it wasn't executed well enough, with lack of focus and details it fails to be something really special.
A good film but its subject is over-used
posted on 30 Aug 2009Body of Lies has an interesting story.But the problem is that the movie tells that story using a formula we have seen on a lot of similar movies and,at the same time,that reduces its originality and it makes it occasionally confusing and pretentious;the formula I'm talking about contains this elements : well done action sequences where we do not precisely know what is happening to simulate chaos,discussions in offices where people talk about the ethic of violence and visiting sophisticated locations where the bosses of both sides discuss about the cruel reality of their actions.And by that structure,it is discovered the ideology of different cultures.Body of Lies has many good elements and it does not have particularly bad elements...the problem is we have already seen a lot of movies which expose the same message,the same controversies and very similar structures and characters : the Arabian terrorist whose mission makes sense when we see it from his point of view,the high range officer who takes decisions from his comfortable office of Washington and the agent who has good intentions but questions some of his actions.So,after seeing that subject so many times (on films like Lions for Lambs,Rendition,The Kingdom or the excellent Syriana,just to mention some examples),I am starting to get a little bit tired of it.That's the reason why Body of Lies did not completely satisfy me.In spite of that,I liked Body of Lies.Director Ridley Scott has a big talent for telling complicated stories which let him to combine the styles he is best at : realistic and graphic action orchestrated with a good visual style and dramatic moments endorsed by solid casts.In Body of Lies,Scott does not get a result as good as he got in movies like Black Hawk Down or Gladiator but still,he gets a competent result.The cast is another positive point of Body of Lies.Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe show conviction on their characters and they totally fit on them.But I think the best members of the cast are Mark Strong,who perfectly builds his character,and Golshifteh Farahani,whose work is very credible.Body of Lies is a good movie which kept me interested and entertained but I have seen its message and its kind of structure so many times that I was a little bit tired.If this movie was the first of this style,I am sure I would have liked it more.In summary,Body of Lies is a good effort which came too late.