Review of Body of Lies (2008) by Jasonm. — 30 Nov 2008

Something tells me that my rating would have been much lower had it not been for the fact that I got a good night's sleep before seeing this movie. In other words: This is a VERY complex film, with many subtleties and subplots, and one must be prepared to give it their undivided attention.

That said, Body of Lies is certainly worth the attention span required. It is indeed cleverly executed and well acted; specifically, my favorite performance was that of Mark Strong, as the Jordanian head of Intelligence.

Overall, Body of Lies intelligently combines the art of mind-games war drama with a cautious amount of exploding-in-your-face action. Why not a higher score? While the film was well put together, I feel that it is ultimately a bit forgettable.

Movies like this have been done before, and this one doesn't exactly stand out from the bunch. Worth seeing if you see a lot of movies, but if you're an occasional moviegoer, you may wish to skip it.