Review of Body of Lies (2008) by Jan E — 28 Apr 2010

Body of Lies is a tangled CIA thriller that does little to distance itself from the many other movies like this that have been set in the Middle East in recent years. There's a lot of running around and shooting and intelligence-speak, but all of that only adds up to a very average movie.

You'd think that another combination of Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott, with Leonardo DiCaprio thrown into the mix, would be a home-run, but none of them bring their A-game to this. Ridley's direction is acceptable, but a distinct step below Blade Runner, Gladiator, or American Gangster. I have a new found respect for DiCaprio after seeing what he can really do in Revolutionary Road, but little of that is on display here. Crowe gives a better performance than DiCaprio, but still nothing particularly memorable.

Both of them were overshadowed by Mark Strong as Hani, the uncertain ally who is Director of Jordanian Intelligence, and Golshifteh Farahani, who plays a beautiful, quiet young woman who gets unwittingly drawn into the world of intelligence gathering and terrorism. The only time I was really interested in what was happening, was when one of them was on screen. Other than that, Body of Lies is just an average movie with an anti-climatic ending. That's not so bad, but I expected more from those involved.