Given its muscle, it would be pretty hard to screw up a movie like
Body of Lies. Russell Crowe and director Ridley Scott's new geopolitical thriller can certainly stand distinguished on its own, but what lifts this film above the average spy fare always goes back to Leonardo DiCaprio.
Look, this isn't your little sister's Leo. The one who boyishly charmed his way through films like
Romeo & Juliet and
Titanic. This is a different actor... almost a different person than he was just eight years ago. And he is definitively improving with age.
Body of Lies tells the story of CIA operative Roger Ferris (DiCaprio) and his clandestine movements in the Middle East. Completely immersed in the culture -- he speaks Arabic and has acute knowledge of the region -- Ferris works in conjunction with senior spook Ed Hoffman, played by a vastly overweight Russel Crowe, who calls many of the shots from thousands of miles away in suburban Washington, D.C.
As the film jumps from locale to locale, Ferris ultimately ends up in Amman, Jordan as a CIA station chief. There, he befriends a high-level officer in the Jordanian intelligence community and attempts to effectively play chess with various terrorist suspects and ally operatives -- the movements of which are always communicated to Hoffman back home.
Crowe gained 50 pounds for his character, who amusingly is seen continually munching on something -- or discussing CIA strategy while watching his young kids at soccer games. The dialogue between Ferris and he is often humorous. At times, the talk makes it tough to decide who is calling the shots: Ferris on the ground, or Hoffman in D.C.
Much of the film's action is seen from Hoffman's perspective -- from a spy aircraft in the sky with the ability to zoom right down to the characters' faces... sort of real life reality TV for CIA spooks making the decisions at Langley. It is during these moments that Hoffman is the most engaged. Otherwise, he's merely going about normal life -- taking his children to school, helping them in the bathroom -- while actually speaking to Ferris via a hands-free cell phone connection.
Surprisingly, I found the film easy to follow. Many geopolitical thrillers like this are jumbled and carry storylines so complex that the screenwriter often seems filibustering for time. But the difference in
Body of Lies is DiCaprio's deadpan performance as a young operative with advanced knowledge and amped smarts of Middle East intelligence and who all the players are.
At approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes, Body of Lies doesn't really seem that long. I actually found myself hoping that there would be much more, as I clearly recognized that the film must be well into the second hour. There are so many elements to catch the viewer's interest-- including Ferris' Jordanian love interest -- and suspense that the film could easily have gotten to the three-hour mark. And I wouldn't have minded a bit.
At its culmination, the film features a graphic torture scene in which terrorists capture Ferris and place him at a table -- hands pinned to the surface to face a video camera and a cast of baddies in a very dark room. Immediately, the audience knows this scene will not treat DiCaprio's character well. After some intense graphic torture, the Islamic soldiers in the room violently attempt to stretch Ferris across the table in order to perform a videotaped execution. I found those moments to be the most suspenseful, with Ferris on the table and the terrorists chanting -- I just didn't know what to expect next. And I'll admit... I
was surprised by what happened during those suspenseful moments.
Body of Lies was supremely written by Oscar-winning writer William Monahan (The Departed), but I found it to be largely the work of DiCaprio that led to my conclusion that this film is one of the best of the year.
Body of Lies (
Warner Bros)
**** (Four stars of four)Approx. 2 hrs 18 mins
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe
Directed by Ridley ScottMORE:- ABC 4 critic Dan Metcalf's review of Body of Lies- Body of Lies official site (Warner Bros)
