Robin PottratzMovie Review: "Body of Lies" simmers with powerful action and stinging performances ***1/2 out of 4
November 7th 2008 23:15
"Body of Lies," Ridley Scott's latest statement on how law enforcement can save lives but also destroy conscience and morality has everything you could want in a movie. It has exciting action, a story that is complicated...but never confusing, and intense performances from brilliant actors. Ridley Scott is often branded as a filmmaker who cares too much about the external. His resume contains such classics as "Alien," "Blade Runner," "Thelma and Louise," and more recently...new classics such as "Gladiator," "Black Hawk Down," and last years unfairly dismissed "American Gangster." With "Body of Lies" he is able to connect with a new and complicated world of global warfare with his usual visual fireworks. It is a truly amazing achievment from a director who has made a habit of doing so over his career.
"Body" follows the travels of Roger Ferris played with a combination of isolated callousness and boyish fear by Leonardo DiCaprio. Ferris is a CIA operative who is disposed all over the middle east and witnesses first hand the bloodshed and deception that our new ideological war has created. Ferris is little more than a hamster in a cage to his CIA boss Ed Hoffman, who is played by a bloated and coldly deadpan Russell Crowe. The majority of the scenes that these two 21st century screen icons share take place while on a cell phone. This device allows for the audience to observe the true lack of understanding of people in the United States when it comes to the chaos in the middle east. Ferris is delivering his information while in the midst of kidnappings, rabid dogs, and roadside bombings, while Hoffman is moving the pieces of geopolitical chess while simultaneously making sure his little boy pees in the toilet or taking pictures of his daughter's soccer game.
The true plot of "Body of Lies" involves the CIA and their pursuit of a mysterious Bin Laden esque terrorist named Al-Saleem, who has been responsible for a series of bombings in Europe. Ferris is dispatched to Jordan where he is introduced to the head of Jordanian intelligence named Hani Salaam (Mark Strong, reinventing the intimidating stare). Global cat and mouse insues with the destruction of a Jordanian safe house and the eventual extradition of Ferris from Jordan. Eventually, Hoffman and Ferris decide to frame an architect in the United Arab Emirates to make him appear to be a rival terrorist taking control within the middle east. To add to all of this, Ferris begins a predictable relationship with a beautiful Iranian nurse(Golshifteh Farahani). The film eventually builds to a fingerslamming climax where Ferris comes face to face with Al-Saleem.
The wheels never stop turning in this taut thriller, given the subject matter of this film...and many subsequent films which have failed within the context of mid-east war, it is refreshing to see a film that pumps the brakes on self righteous preaching and puts more of an emphasis on the fact that since this a new style of world that is serious and dangerous, it requires levels of deception that have never been experienced before. DiCaprio continues to grow as an actor, and his Roger Ferris changes names, faces, and even barometers of personal morality, which DiCaprio conveys ellequently with every inch of his body. Crowe is clearly having a ball as Ed Hoffman, referring to his pet Ferris as "little buddy" throughout to film to emphasize the disconnect between himself and the world that he is helpless to control. The greatest acting accolades must go to Mark Strong. His quietly intense performance echos that of Pacino's Michael Corleone. He can curdle the blood with a quiet stare or a quiet instruction to a prisoner in the desert to "be a good muslim." He deserves serious consideration in the Best Supporting Acting category, however this will not occur which is a travesty in its own right.
The star of this show is Ridley Scott. He may be ignored by the academy and crucified by film snobs as having all style and little substance, but with "Body of Lies," Scott continues to display the anarchistic tendancies of an action director as well as the attention to narrative detail that made him a film legend in the first place. "Body of Lies" doesn't rank among Scott's best, but it is an intense gernade launched in the malaise of today's cinema that is packed with teenage rockers and talking chihuahuas. Ignore the detractors of Scott, and "Body," this is a kick ass film ride that easily ranks among the year's best.
"Body" follows the travels of Roger Ferris played with a combination of isolated callousness and boyish fear by Leonardo DiCaprio. Ferris is a CIA operative who is disposed all over the middle east and witnesses first hand the bloodshed and deception that our new ideological war has created. Ferris is little more than a hamster in a cage to his CIA boss Ed Hoffman, who is played by a bloated and coldly deadpan Russell Crowe. The majority of the scenes that these two 21st century screen icons share take place while on a cell phone. This device allows for the audience to observe the true lack of understanding of people in the United States when it comes to the chaos in the middle east. Ferris is delivering his information while in the midst of kidnappings, rabid dogs, and roadside bombings, while Hoffman is moving the pieces of geopolitical chess while simultaneously making sure his little boy pees in the toilet or taking pictures of his daughter's soccer game.
The true plot of "Body of Lies" involves the CIA and their pursuit of a mysterious Bin Laden esque terrorist named Al-Saleem, who has been responsible for a series of bombings in Europe. Ferris is dispatched to Jordan where he is introduced to the head of Jordanian intelligence named Hani Salaam (Mark Strong, reinventing the intimidating stare). Global cat and mouse insues with the destruction of a Jordanian safe house and the eventual extradition of Ferris from Jordan. Eventually, Hoffman and Ferris decide to frame an architect in the United Arab Emirates to make him appear to be a rival terrorist taking control within the middle east. To add to all of this, Ferris begins a predictable relationship with a beautiful Iranian nurse(Golshifteh Farahani). The film eventually builds to a fingerslamming climax where Ferris comes face to face with Al-Saleem.
The wheels never stop turning in this taut thriller, given the subject matter of this film...and many subsequent films which have failed within the context of mid-east war, it is refreshing to see a film that pumps the brakes on self righteous preaching and puts more of an emphasis on the fact that since this a new style of world that is serious and dangerous, it requires levels of deception that have never been experienced before. DiCaprio continues to grow as an actor, and his Roger Ferris changes names, faces, and even barometers of personal morality, which DiCaprio conveys ellequently with every inch of his body. Crowe is clearly having a ball as Ed Hoffman, referring to his pet Ferris as "little buddy" throughout to film to emphasize the disconnect between himself and the world that he is helpless to control. The greatest acting accolades must go to Mark Strong. His quietly intense performance echos that of Pacino's Michael Corleone. He can curdle the blood with a quiet stare or a quiet instruction to a prisoner in the desert to "be a good muslim." He deserves serious consideration in the Best Supporting Acting category, however this will not occur which is a travesty in its own right.
The star of this show is Ridley Scott. He may be ignored by the academy and crucified by film snobs as having all style and little substance, but with "Body of Lies," Scott continues to display the anarchistic tendancies of an action director as well as the attention to narrative detail that made him a film legend in the first place. "Body of Lies" doesn't rank among Scott's best, but it is an intense gernade launched in the malaise of today's cinema that is packed with teenage rockers and talking chihuahuas. Ignore the detractors of Scott, and "Body," this is a kick ass film ride that easily ranks among the year's best.
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