Body of Lies (2008)

Roger Ferris is a CIA operative in the Middle East; Ed Hoffman is his control at Langley. Cynicism is everywhere. In Amman, Roger works with Hani Salaam, Jordan's head of security, whose only dictum is Don't lie to me. The Americans are in pursuit of a cleric who leads a group placing bombs all over Europe. When Hani rebukes Ed's demand that Jordan allow the Americans to use one of Jordan's double agents, Roger and Ed hatch a plan to bring the cleric to them. The plan is complicated by its being a secret from Hani and by Roger's attraction to a local nurse. Satellites and cell phones, bodies and lies: modern warfare. - synopsis from IMDB

Cast - full listing

Genres

war, action

Facts & Figures

Directed by Ridley Scott.

Rated 7.1 on IMDB from 180906 votes.

Runtime: 128 min.

Review

As any moviegoer will tell you, great names on a casting list don’t neccessarily ensure great movies are made. In similar fashion, impressive budgets don’t mean great performances are to be expected. Body of Lies boasts two big names and for a change this works out well.

Since we looked into the beautiful mind of John Nash through the eyes of Crowe, he has varied appearances. The common ground for many of his roles seems to be somehow troubled individuals, whether of criminal intent, intellectual madness or neurotic sense of duty. When you know a trade, stick to it. Which is exactly the case with the role of Ed Hoffman. Crowe makes it special - see for yourself to know what I mean.

Maybe diCaprio could have made this look harder. He jets over the world from mission to mission without seeming to tire whatsoever. We are led to believe all agents live this fast-paced, action-packed life. Sure there’ the occasional hospital visit, but other than that it’s like picking up dairy products. Still, a convincing performance.

Who said charm isn’t valued as it once was? He uses it naturally. Better still, as far as performances go, I thought Mark Strong as the head of the Jordanian Intelligence service was magnificent. Talk about charisma! I love a great bad guy, but a great good guy will go down nicely as well if it’s delivered like this.

Body of Lies will not chuck too much morality at you. As predictable as Hollywood is these days, the ending comes with very little surprises. You will distrust just about anyone before the ending. Well, maybe not diCaprio - he’s too good looking to be a bad guy, right? In a way, this suits the movie’s topic very well. Who can you really trust anyway when plans within plans reveal themselves? Who’s side are you on? Are there even sides? And do you actually have a choice?

Seen: 27 Nov 2008