Review of Body of Lies (2008) by Raghav D — 20 Mar 2010

C.I.A. operative Leonardo DiCaprio enlists the help of the Jordanian secret service to locate the leader of a terrorist cell responsible for bombings in Europe. Being a massive fan of Ridley Scott, I always have very high expectations for his films and this was no different.

Unfortunately what you get is more James Bond than Syriana, the depth and insight into the political situation in the Middle East sorely lacking, the film underneath being more a straight cold war style espionage thriller.

I did like the way it showed the parallel between DiCaprio's handler and the terrorist leader as two sides of the same coin; each arrogant egoists with no understanding of or respect for their adversary or their culture, using their "followers" as disposable pawns in their own little power games.

It's certainly very solidly made, with decent performances, quality visuals and an intelligent plot, but as with Vietnam, I think we will have to wait til the conflict has ended before we see any truly worthwhile cinema about the subject, at least from Hollywood.