Body of Lies Reviews

Body Of Lies is a minor disappointment. It is decent but it could have been a lot better. What was flawed about this film was that the plot wasn't as realistic as I was hoping. Also, I thought that the action wasn't as intense or exciting as I was anticipating. Personally, the title "Body Of Lies" didn't really give me a brief description of what the title meant to the story. The action felt sort of rushed and too short for my liking. I thought the torture scene was interesting and that is it.


Leonardo DiCaprio was totally miscast for this film. I really love his films but I think it was because of him that I didn't feel the powerful realism of the story. Also, I don't think he fits very well with the action genre. Yes, he was in Blood Diamond but that was more of a deep-thought story than an intense action thrill ride. Russell Crowe's collaboration with Ridley Scott is absolutely brilliant! Out of the 4 films together that I've seen and that have been made, it is the worst of them. I hope Robin Hood becomes a breakthrough and improves their collaboration and determination for great films.


Ridley Scott is a director who can improvise a film at any kind of genre. Sometimes, he can pull it off but sometimes he can't. Films like Body Of Lies, Hannibal and Kingdom Of Heaven are his three films that he unfortunately was unable to pull off and suceed. All three of them could have been better but unfortunately weren't.


Ridley Scott was certainly the wrong director to direct Body Of Lies. A director like Michael Bay might have pulled it off better than Ridley Scott did. Body Of Lies is a disappointing film that I was really hoping would be good but now after reading negative reviews about and being shocked about it first, I now realise what they mean. Come on, Ridley Scott! Make Robin Hood a lot better than this!

''Ain't nobody likes the Middle East, buddy. There's nothing here to like.''

Roger Ferris uncovers a lead on a major terrorist leader suspected to be operating out of Jordan.

Leonardo DiCaprio: Roger Ferris

Well Director Ridley Scott tackles the issue of the old Middle East Terrorism and also a look at how intelligence agencies and their respective Agents act. Body Of Lies has been unfairly attacked by critics on the basis that other films have done the same thing and executed the same problem. These attacks are unjust and unfair mainly because alot of Horror & Romantic films always emulate the same recurring aspects for example some not coming under scrutiny. Some of the other films which have addressed Middle East, Terrorism, and Counter measures and Agencies attempting to thwart the former, are in my memory...Rendition, Syriana(Also starring the wondrously talented Actor Mark Strong),The Kingdom, Three Kings, all films set in the middle East that add to this specific genre, this battle with terror and religious fanaticism yet also a stab at the mistakes and moral leanings of Western Powers and the murky cloudiness of diluted intelligence twisted round.
Body Of Lies should be considered to be among these interesting looks at the Eastern situation or war on terror, whatever you prefer to view the state of going ons.



''You Americans are incapable of secrets because of your democracy.''

Interestingly enough Body Of Lies begins with an imminent explosion in Manchester UK with some Terrorists loyal to Al-Saleem (Alon Aboutboul). This sets the ball rolling and at the same time keeps us the audience glued and straining to keep up with the intense intelligent dialogue which educates as well as entertains us.
Before the main titans appear on screen we know Ridley Scott has all the strings to pull and cards up his sleeves to reveal. So when Leonardo comes on screen with his unshaven appearance and brown contacts in, we can fully believe he is an Agent undercover doing his hard pressed job, he knows disguises, can speak fluent Arabic. Roger Ferris is made into a fully three dimensional character by Leonardo DiCaprio.
My other fascination among many, was Russel Crowe as Ed Hoffman, who really shows his age with his plump aged self. I mean this is the man that was the young heroic actor of Gladiator, or the determined protagonist of the recent American Gangster. Here we have a family man, fat Crowe playing a US Operative who's only interested in his own loyalties and affiliations to his government.
What I really loved in this is that he is always doing his work 90% of the time, in phone conversations with Ferris while he is at home with the wife and kids, or watching his daughter's soccer game, even helping his son brush his teeth and pee. This is a man, this Hoffman is detached yet enveloped in the proceedings but from afar, its a genius scenario that really shows what it must be like in the field. Succeeding in being a book adaptation and also a realistic venture of sorts, showing a situation that needs to be addressed.

Mark Strong as Hani really was one of the favourite scorchingly talented inspirations I came out with, with Body Of Lies. He's just a treasure to watch every second, his screen-time has a resonance about it that stays memorable. British Actor plays Hani, the Jordan Ally of Ferris with finesse and believability, coming across with a charismatic aura that had me smiling. Whether it be RocknRolla or the fun Star Dust, Mark Strong always makes the film that little bit sweeter merely with his esteemed presence.

''This is unusual. Your Ed Hoffman would rather have less information than share what he has with me.''

A certain romantic aspect is explored with Golshifteh Farahani playing Aisha, a romance that blossoms out of a chance meeting between Aisha & Ferris at a clinic. This relationship they share, informatively helps us see also the lack of freedom women have in the Middle Eastern world. As Ferris and Aisha share a drink outside a coffee establishment notice how the men sneer and look down at them, even the old man serving them, seems to disagree with their shared presence.
Another scene in which they talk, after Ferris meets her sister for approval and her two boys, the talk outside ends with Ferris going to shake her hand. Then we notice everyone above including her sister is watching, disapproving. For this is how it is in their world. It's frozen in time, bound to tradition, when it changes, ironically only God knows that answer, and I can say it wont change anytime soon.

So the film's screenplay by William Monahan & David Ignatius who wrote the Novel, seem to have given Ridley Scott the material and story necessary for a great piece of educational entertainment and a dazzling array of characters.
Interestingly enough for the beginning, I discovered that the Manchester scenes (filmed on actual streets in the USA), any overly "American" curbside items (like certain fire hydrants) were hidden by dropping bottom-less slatted metal trash cans over them and then adding prop "English" rubbish; however, extras and crew unaware of this subtle artful touch continuously filled the apparently-normal-looking receptacles with their own trash. Between filming sessions, rueful set dressers would have to remove a foot-high layer of discarded plastic water bottles (and then reset and fluff the "official" rubbish).

Roger Ferris: I can't do this anymore.
Ed Hoffman: Yes you can. Now you go home, get a few hours sleep and you call me when you're thinking straight.
Roger Ferris: Your know what, I AM thinking straight, alright, you're not, you can't 'cause you're a million fuckin' miles away.

Body Of Lies maintains a class and favourable conclusion for me and a great example of how sometimes the critics can be wrong on films, on books or on music. End of the day, it's something that I've always said after missing out on some impressive films critics have slated, and because I've been dissuaded from seeing it from what I've read. I learnt a long time ago that it's sometimes best to make up your own mind and come to your own conclusions. To conclude Body Of Lies is a web of deceit and characters who all end up lying to themselves as well as each other. The heroes all seem to be after the same fanatic nemesis, yet they don't trust each other. Would of liked more emphasis on the romance side of things, but the ending leaves things pretty much to the viewers respective imaginations, which I liked. Musically, visually, I was engrossed by this tense thriller and also woken up to aspects of ideology to religion to trust. All important, all up for discussion and to be thought upon. Body Of lies ironically succeeds in portraying alot of truth to our Modern present, now let's do something for the future.

''Nobody's innocent in this shit.''

"Our world as we know it is much simpler... to put to an end than you might think."

Body of Lies is director Ridley Scott's contribution to the multitude of movies concerning America's War on Terror. The film was released in the shadow of similar films such as The Kingdom, Stop-Loss and In the Valley of Elah. Ridley's movie is an intricate little beast composed for a very specific type of movie-goer - the thinking movie-goer. With the release date just subsequent to the 2008 summer season (highlights included The Dark Knight, Iron Man and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) the film practically tiptoed into cinemas with the stealth of the CIA operatives at the centre of this crackling thriller.

Body of Lies is a visceral, gritty, gripping adaptation of the 2007 novel by Washington Post foreign-affairs columnist David Ignatius. Screenwriter William Monahan (who earned an Oscar for Martin Scorsese's The Departed) has constructed an incisive, albeit dramatically uninvolving examination of the War on Terror as conducted on the ground and back in the US in offices, homes, suburban playgrounds and HQs - mostly via cell phones. Monahan's script expresses the stimulating and profound perception that cynicism and hope can subsist alongside one another, and merge into a singular expression of both from time to time. It's this complexity and sophistication that distances Body of Lies from the swarm of other films concerning America's War on Terror. Case in point: Peter Berg's The Kingdom was a mere action film and essentially propaganda. Body of Lies never feels the need to promote America - instead the self-absorbed personalities behind desks back home lie constantly while the poor men in the field face the consequences. Americans are shown as dishonest, deceptive and vulnerable, which is frankly a breath of fresh air. Scriptwriter Monahan refuses to paint any side of the ongoing conflict as good or bad. Americans lie. Jordanians lie. Muslims kill helpless civilians. It's this quality which allows Body of Lies to rise above the stereotypes of preachy left-wing Hollywood. But at the end of the day it usually fails to engage. As a result we're left with Leonardo DiCaprio running around the Middle East for two hours as Russell Crowe lies in his ear.

"Nobody's innocent in this shit."

Roger Ferris (DiCaprio) supervises intelligence in the Far East for the CIA: he's a sophisticated operative negotiating hot zones in the Middle East while no-one close to him makes it out alive. He trusts his life to a dispassionate voice on the other end of a secure phone line. Said voice is that of Ed Hoffman (Crowe). Ed rages war from a laptop in his living room in the suburbs in Washington, dictating Ferris' orders. When a new extremist group begins bombing cities, Ferris is relocated to Jordan. To lure this new terrorist leader out into the open, Ferris penetrates the world of underground financing and frantic martyrs, in addition to forming a shaky alliance with the head of Jordanian Special Ops. The quest takes Ferris across Iraq, Jordan, Washington and Dubai. But the closer he gets to the target, the more he finds himself trapped in a hall of mirrors where allies are only as good as their last deception, and trust becomes the most dangerous tactic of all. Ferris becomes embroiled in a cat-and mouse-game during which the objective is information and the currency is personal integrity.

As well as being an intense drama, Body of Lies also serves as a globe-trotting espionage thriller. At its core, it's the plot of a James Bond film transplanted into the Middle East (without the frequent action). For the most part, Body of Lies works as its tense and competently handled. But the movie is overly talkative without managing to deliver an innovative message. There's more action in a standard episode of 24 than in this two-hour dialogue-driven drama. The dialogue is terse and stilted, with the promising plot too convoluted and uninteresting. This is a listen-up-or-you'll-miss-something, join-the-dots production that won't generate overwhelming ticket sales. Dramatically, the script falls flat into the final third. It follows the conventions of a tradition action movie; however it even fails to satisfy on a pure entertainment level. There's a love interest included for the sake of a love interest. She serves no purpose other than to provide momentum for the finale. It successfully managed to eschew clichés and predictability for a majority of its running time before subsequently succumbing to them late into the game. It's a drastically disappointing shift.

"You Americans are incapable of secrets because of your democracy."

Movies regarding the war in Iraq have been a difficult sell for the most part. Body of Lies appears more attractive due to its substantial star power. Ridley Scott at the helm, Russell Crowe and Leo DiCaprio (fresh from his acclaimed performances in Blood Diamond and The Departed which earned him several prestigious award nominations) being featured as the primary acting talent? Suddenly things are more interesting. Even better: William Monahan penned the script.
Ridley Scott is one of the select A-list directors capable of infusing a blockbuster with a certain level of artistry and depth. He makes every single shot count. Somehow, though, all the ingredients don't coalesce into anything overly brilliant. To be frank, it's a bit of a snoozer. It fails to engage or rivet a viewer on a significant level. On occasion, for instance the enthralling helicopter chase, the film boasts moments of sheer brilliance. However there just isn't an adequate quantity of these moments. 2006's Blood Diamond is of the standard Body of Lies should've reached. Edward Zwick's Blood Diamond contained great dialogue, searing action and a coherent story that flowed satisfyingly. Body of Lies is too boring too frequently. Ridley Scott's direction is competent and meticulous for sure, but the dialogue underwhelms and the film concludes with a muted whimper. At the end of the day, 60% of the story seems utterly pointless.

Russell Crowe reportedly gained 63 pounds for his role. Honestly, one has to wonder why. It seems like the most useless body transformation in history.
There's a lethal problem in the interaction between Crowe and DiCaprio - it's usually via phone. Nevertheless, Crowe is amusing as he embraces his inner cad and barks orders to DiCaprio's Roger Ferris while driving kids to soccer practise. Crowe's performance is fairly subdued, but he's acceptable and credible. DiCaprio is sufficiently charming and intense. But the role never gives him anything challenging, and ultimately he never seems like someone capable of seamlessly blending into the Arab culture. Mark Strong is the particular stand-out of the cast.

Overall, Body of Lies is a mediocre picture that, despite fantastic visuals, lacks dramatic momentum. There's an unfortunate failure to keep an audience involved in the sprawling, overlong, confusing saga. Be that as it may, there are numerous strong points such as Ridley Scott's artistic direction, nail-biting suspense and incredible action. At times it's truly dazzling. Other times it's too dull and boring for words.

"Ain't nobody likes the Middle East, buddy. There's nothing here to like."

6.8/10