Body Of Lies

Filed Under: Film, Reviews | Article Tags : DVD review

By: The Dweeb

DVD Features Video: 2.35:1 Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Digital copy of film Theatrical release: 10/10/2008 DVD released on 2/17/2009 by Warner Bros Running time of 128 minutes Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe Director: Ridley Scott Plot: The CIA’s hunt is on for the mastermind of a wave of terrorist attacks. Roger Ferris is the agency’s man on the ground, moving from place to place, scrambling to stay ahead of ever-shifting events. An eye in the sky – a satellite link – watches Ferris. At the other end of that real-time link is the CIA’s Ed Hoffman, strategizing events from thousands of miles away. And as Ferris nears the target, he discovers trust can be just as dangerous as it is necessary for survival.

Ridley Scott’s latest film Body of Lies is another one that will, pardon the cliché, keep you on the edge of your seat.  Yes I know its standard marketing dreck and I shouldn’t have used it but I don’t have any other way to put it. This political spy thriller will twist and turn you in so many ways you won’t know which way is up by the time you are done. As is typical of many of Ridley Scotts films, the frenetic energy, editing and cinematography creates an atmosphere of suspense, tension and doubt about characters motivations, which will hold you hostage until the movie is over. You just have to know what’s going to happen at the end. Scott is the master of this genre, and as a the director the execution of the film is almost perfect. I say almost, as I did have some issues with a couple of subplots that either were unnecessary or not fleshed out enough.

The film is very confusing, you don’t quite know who’s side anyone is really on. CIA agent Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) spends most of the film wondering the same thing, is his boss Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) on his team or not? At every turn, it seems Hoffman has somehow derailed his plans or mission, as he is arm chair quarterbacking back at home while Ferris slogs it out in the trenches. They constantly argue like an old married couple, only its two thousand miles apart. Ferris forges a delicate alliance the Jordanian intelligence office, only to have Hoffman barge right in and screw it up. Hoffman obviously has other motives, and we never really know why he just didn’t let Ferris do things his way. As mentioned above there is a small subplot of Ferris trying to ‘date’ a local Jordanian woman. Not sure why this was in there, I assume that goes against some kind of rule for field agents, but its DiCaprio so its mandatory that he has to impress the ladies. It does become part of the larger story to move him into position for the end, but there could have been other ways to accomplish this.

Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio both bring a strong presence to the film, they definitely are capable of holding their own solo projects but teaming them up for this one was certainly an interesting dynamic. Dicaprio’s acting reminded me of another similar role in Blood Diamond, but this time he’s the hothead American. For the amount of responsibility and rank the character carries I do think he may be a bit young for this role.  Crowe’s character is a mystery to me. I have no idea what motivates him, except maybe servicing the end game to its quickest conclusion, his coaching from behind the desk infuriates Ferris to no end. It seemed as if they were more adversarial and fighting each other rather than terrorists.

This DVD that was sent to me was the standard version, really designed for the rental market as there were no other extras except the digital copy. Which is too bad, as I like all the extra stuff.  Sound and image are naturally very good, most likely even better on Blu-ray.  This is definitely one of Ridley’s better films, who is a master at keeping audiences in their seats, most of the time anyway. I certainly enjoyed watching this one. I would say give it a go at least once.

Reviewer’s Opinion: RENT IT!!