Directed by: Ridley Scott
Premise: A CIA field operative (Leonardo DiCaprio)
works with Jordanian anti-terrorism officials to track down an Islamic extremist
leader while trying to minimize the interference of his scheming supervisor
(Russell Crowe).
What Works: Body of Lies has some great
performances by Russell Crowe as a pushy and arrogant CIA boss who is willing to
use and abuse any relationship in order to accomplish his goals and Mark Strong
as the Chief of Jordanian Intelligence, a polished and charismatic man with
ambiguous intentions. The whole movie is an elaborate game of chess with
multiple players manipulating the figures and the story smartly places
DiCaprio’s character between Crowe and Strong’s father figure types, forcing
him to try and appease both men while completing his mission. The dialogue is
sharp and actually includes a lot of the wry humor that screenwriter William
Monahan does so well. As a political thriller, Body of Lies manages to
navigate a lot of information in keep it organized and manageable for the
audience while not watering it down and balances exposition and action very
well.
What Doesn’t: The trouble with Body of Lies is its lack of a clear goal or at least a Mcguffin, and that creates a ripple
effect that hinders the rest of the picture. The film starts by introducing the
lead villain, who the heroes need to defeat, but then that villain disappears
for most of the film, only reappearing in the end. Most of the middle of the
picture is spent on red herrings that don’t really lead anywhere. The absence
of a coherent endgame comes to hurt the conclusion, which does not really
resolve any of the issues that the characters have faced. Body of Lies is
also troubled by a dependence on convention. The story follows the general
template of a spy thriller and rarely deviates from it. This makes the story
predictable and keeps Body of Lies from breaking any new ground in the
genre or making any profound statements about its subject matter.
Bottom Line: Body of Lies is not a bad film but it’s also not that exceptional. The acting and the characters are great, especially Crowe and Strong, and it adds a lot of sly humor to the subject but in the end the film is just a little under whelming.