Review of Body of Lies (2008) by Reinhard P — 13 Apr 2010

As any serious movie that's not "Syriana" would do, BOL takes a complex issue â?? here: â??War on Terrorâ?? â??, strips it down to its workable parts, chooses one and runs with it. In this case, it's the complexity of asymmetrical warfare boiled down to one central premise: "If you live like it's the past, guys from the future find it very hard to see you." BOL finds vivid and convincing images for instances in which even the most advanced of technologies can be outsmarted by clever resourcefulness.

In this setting, the (US-American) protagonists embody two approaches to warfare ultimately at odds with one another. DiCaprioâ??s field agent is adept and immersed in his foreign environment and overall sensitive to the necessities of cultural difference that lie at the bottom of his job. Croweâ??s Langley exec exemplifies the kind of detached, arrogant and cynical bureaucrat fat-cat Rambo already wanted to take his knife out on back in the day. Thankfully, heâ??s not as incompetent as the cliché would conventionally have it.

The real star, however, is Mark Strongâ??s chief of Jordanian intelligence, who commands every scene heâ??s in. Heâ??s a real hoot to watch, though with admittedly generous help from a script that not only casts him as DiCaprioâ??s superior, but also grants him moral high ground all the way.

Formally, itâ??s flawless, as one would expect from Ridley Scott. Unlike a usual suspect like Michael Bay (or his brother Tony), Scott knows how to garner generous Pentagon support for his movies without turning out an army commercial. On the other side of the divide, he is also restrained enough to employ a Guantanamo reference without being preachy.