Body of lies movie reviews
The movie jumps from London to Iraq to Washington to Amsterdam to Jordan, Dubai, Turkey, and Syria with box-checking diligence. And Ferris (of course) becomes involved with a pretty local lass (Golshifteh Farahani as an Iranian nurse), who becomes an unwitting pawn in his plots and counterplots.
They (of course) make common cause with a regional law enforcement agent (Mark Strong), who may or may not really be on their side.
Body of lies movie reviews series#
Hoffman is a callous cynic who declares, "Ain't nobody likes the Middle East" and "I don't have time for cultural sensitivity issues." I'll leave it to you to guess which is the good guy.įerris and Hoffman are (of course) closing in on a terrorist mastermind who's behind a series of bombings in Europe and plans to bring his pyrotechnic show to the U.S. Ferris is a jaded humanist who likes the Middle East and believes America's best hopes for defeating terrorism lie in open cooperation with our allies in the region. Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a CIA field operative Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) is the stateside handler with whom he is in frequent disagreement. The result is a film that, while far less muddled, still doesn't have much new to say. 4 out of 5 stars.Three years ago, Ridley Scott's ill-conceived epic Kingdom of Heaven implicitly asked the question, "What would a movie about the Crusades look like if everyone in it had a 21st-century ideological outlook?" (The unsurprising answer: It would look nothing at all like the Crusades.) With Body of Lies, Scott once again turns his eye to conflict in the Middle East, though this time he wisely keeps his moral and historical frames in present-day alignment. Watch it when it hits Indian theaters next weekend. Overall – definitely worth a see, the movie will stay with you for a long time after it is over.
The “Meet-the-sister” scene is brilliant (with probably the only righteous speech in the movie) and it is clear that DiCaprio still rocks when it comes to wooing women… though it can be said that he even rocks while shooting at evil Arabs.
To introduce a bit of light-heartedness in an otherwise heavy subject – Scott deftly touches upon a budding romance between Ferris and a local Jordanian nurse… which provides a smile here and there. Also it shows that the Americans with all their political and technological muscle are not as much in control as they like to show…and that in field the rules of engagement are different. They are dirty, grimy and very human. The point of the matter is that everyone down there is a bastard. The crux of the movie lies in the realistic and accurate potrayal of the situation in the middle-east – without going into jingoism or long partriotic speeches. The movie also avoids a common pitfall with such ventures – one that of a “Moral of the Story”. Hoffman pursues his “take-no-prisoners” high-handed agenda from Washington, while Ferris fights an increasingly deceptive enemy on the ground – and finds himself lying to his one true ally in the region – Hani. To catch an increasingly active but elusive terrorist Al-Saleem – Ferris, Hoffman along with the suave and polished head of Jordanian Intelligence, Hani Pasha (played by the superb Mark Strong) – launch an operation replete with lies and deceit. (It is amazing how the guy reinvents himself for each role.) Ferris and Hoffman share a love-hate relationship – where the former often finds himself at odds with the capricious games, underhanded politically motivated dealings and sheer lies perpetrated by Crowe. His boss is an ex-field-operative, now shrewd and ruthless wheeler-dealer in Washington, Ed Hoffman – played by a spiteful Russell Crowe. The movie follows the life of a CIA operative Roger Ferris (DiCaprio – competent as usual) with a conscience and a human heart, as he deals with various terror groups in the Middle East. Crossing, Double-crossing and Triple-crossing…all in a days work. As the name suggests “Body of Lies” is about the untruthful games played by the various parties engaged in the war on terror.