*** Official BODY OF LIES Review Thread (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe headline, and Ridley Scott directs "Body of Lies", a spy thriller that takes place in the middle east. With a trio of bankable cinematic talents on hand, does the film deliver? I would lean towards "not as much as I had hoped". The main problem is the script, which spends time setting up character temperments and tendencies, but never really offers anything too deep into their motivations, resulting in flat characters that do things because it's important to the plot, but doesn't feel true to spy operation. DiCaprio is agent Roger Ferris, a field agent with good instincts in the middle east, and Crowe is Ed Hoffman, an ambitious CIA director of operations who oversees Ferris.

The impetus of the film's plot is to find the head terrorist, Al-Saleem, whose organization is bombing different spots around the world, producing unrest and uncertainty. The film feels like 2 episodes of the Ferris and Hoffman show put together in a rather disjointed manner, which undermines the flow of the film. As previously alluded to, the 2nd half takes a bit of a detour in Ferris' personal life that has bad consequences, but it doesn't seem like something a smart agent like Ferris would involve himself, but it happens, and it's all to serve the plot, which I didn't buy, so I wasn't too keen on the concluding act of the film.

I give it 2.5 stars, or a grade of C+.

 

[ChrisBEA]

I really enjoyed it, more than I was expecting to. I liked the interplay between Crowe and Dicaprio.

I am leaning towards a 3.5, but I do need to reflect on it a little, see how it holds up over night.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This thread is now the Official Review Thread for "Body of Lies". Please post all HTF member reviews in this thread.

Any other comments, links to other reviews, or discussion items will be deleted from this thread without warning!

If you need to discuss those type of issues then I have designated an Official Discussion Thread.



Crawdaddy

 

[Chuck Mayer]

I thought it was a pretty good film. Not great, but good Ridley Scott is always worth watching. I thought the leads did well, but Strong steals this film. It's final third is the weakest, but it is still decent. The film itself looks great, as expected.

I recommend the film. Scott's films are able to political without being partisan. I appreciate that.

8.5/10,
Chuck

 

[Brett_M]

I'm actually quite surprised at some of the reviews for this film -- dumbfounded is more like it. I found it riveting from start to finish.

Looked and sounded great but above all, the acting, particularly by DiCaprio and Strong, was excellent. The script is masterful, imho. The action scenes are well choregraphed. Do yourself a favor and see it in a theater. Reserve judgement until then.

One of the best I've seen this year.

*****/*****