Director: Ridley Scott
Screenplay: William Monahan (based on the book by David Ignatius)
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong
Music: Marc Streitenfeld
Time: 128 minutes
Bottom-line: Other than good acting by the leads, the film fails in almost everything else
Ridley Scott’s war thriller, Body of Lies, is a film that is likely to get mixed responses. What starts out as a good war film turns into a boring and violent one. It may be dense and confusing, but this type of confusion only leads to lesser entertainment. Compared to Gladiator and Alien, this film is a bit of an upset.
This is the story of Roger Ferris (DiCaprio), a CIA case officer in Iraq, tracking a terrorist called Al-Saleem. He meets Nizar (Alon Abutbul), who offers information in exchange for asylum in the USA. Despite the advice of Ferris’ boss, Ed Hoffman (Crowe), Ferris agrees to safeguard Nizar. However, when Nizar is captured, Ferris is forced to shoot Nizar to prevent being exposed. Ferris gets injured in a gunfight, and after recovery, he is asked to continue his search for Al-Saleem in Jordan. He meets the head of Jordan Intelligence Directorate, Hani Salaam (Strong). Meanwhile, Hoffman arranges another operation, unknown to Ferris. This interferes with Ferris’ plan, and he gets angry with Hoffman. As the story progresses, Ferris develops a romance for a nurse, Aisha (Golshifteh Farahani). After several other twists, Salaam accuses Ferris of being a traitor, and exiles him from Jordan. The rest of the film is how Ferris tries to reunite with Salaam, and whether or not Ferris captures Al-Saleem.
The story is average. Scott has done well to show the settings of a war, and also makes it bit better with some unique camera angles, like from high altitude planes. But, though the story begins well, it goes on to become too confusing. Now, I know that you may say, “How come you gave Memento a 5/5 rating?” Yes, Memento is also confusing, but there is a reasonable ambiguity and also a very believable explanation of the plot. But here, there is no ambiguity at the end: it is pretty straightforward. The film is just a maze of a simple story.
There are several unwanted incidents in the film. For example, I don’t think the character of Nizar does anything to the film. He just comes for 5 minutes in the film, and dies anyway, without contributing to the story much. There are many characters in the film, and so, it gets a wee bit confusing, mainly because it takes a while to understand who is who. The thing that drives the story in the second half is the romance between Ferris and Aisha. If this romance had not been there, then the film would have lasted only for about 80 minutes. While Scott portrays some other aspects of the war realistically, the relationship between Ferris and Aisha is unrealistic. (The remaining paragraph may have spoilers) in the second half of the film, Aisha is kidnapped, and Ferris offers to turn himself instead of her, and then the story goes on. Now, in my opinion, soldiers, or anyone participating in the war in the actual location, should not have any emotional attachments. The second half of the story is entirely based on this romance. So, what I am saying is, Scott drives the film using only an unrealistic romance.
The acting is excellent. DiCaprio doesn’t disappoint with his acting. Crowe, unlike DiCaprio, doesn’t have any action, but only dialogues. Yet, he has also acted well. Strong’s acting is the best. He speaks an excellent Middle Eastern accent, and portrays a character who is kind of a half-villain, half-hero. Many critics have called him a James Bondish villain. Despite the great acting, I think that the characters are odd. Like I said, Ferris’ unrealistic romance drives the story in the last hour or so. Crowe’s character is kind of weird. He tells Ferris what all to do, from his home in Washington, and not from Iraq or any neighbouring countries. His character is kind of a like a puppeteer, and it looks like he has no interest in war.
The photography is good. The scenes of the war are pretty realistic, and the few action sequences are well-shot. Few twists are satisfying, but most of the other ones add to the confusion and not to entertainment.
Overall, Body of Lies is a good war thriller, but an average film. The acting of DiCaprio, Strong and Crowe is excellent. The photography is good, and the war settings and scenes are realistic. Yet, this film has a very complicated and boring story, and lot of unwanted scenes. If you are a fan of any of the actors, go for it; you will like all their performances. However, if you are a Ridley Scott fan, you may be disappointed.
My Rating: 2.5/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 54%
Screenplay: William Monahan (based on the book by David Ignatius)Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong
Music: Marc Streitenfeld
Time: 128 minutes
Bottom-line: Other than good acting by the leads, the film fails in almost everything else
Ridley Scott’s war thriller, Body of Lies, is a film that is likely to get mixed responses. What starts out as a good war film turns into a boring and violent one. It may be dense and confusing, but this type of confusion only leads to lesser entertainment. Compared to Gladiator and Alien, this film is a bit of an upset.
This is the story of Roger Ferris (DiCaprio), a CIA case officer in Iraq, tracking a terrorist called Al-Saleem. He meets Nizar (Alon Abutbul), who offers information in exchange for asylum in the USA. Despite the advice of Ferris’ boss, Ed Hoffman (Crowe), Ferris agrees to safeguard Nizar. However, when Nizar is captured, Ferris is forced to shoot Nizar to prevent being exposed. Ferris gets injured in a gunfight, and after recovery, he is asked to continue his search for Al-Saleem in Jordan. He meets the head of Jordan Intelligence Directorate, Hani Salaam (Strong). Meanwhile, Hoffman arranges another operation, unknown to Ferris. This interferes with Ferris’ plan, and he gets angry with Hoffman. As the story progresses, Ferris develops a romance for a nurse, Aisha (Golshifteh Farahani). After several other twists, Salaam accuses Ferris of being a traitor, and exiles him from Jordan. The rest of the film is how Ferris tries to reunite with Salaam, and whether or not Ferris captures Al-Saleem.
 |
| DiCaprio as Ferris (right), and Crowe as Hoffman. Crowe gives this sort of a look throughout the film |
The story is average. Scott has done well to show the settings of a war, and also makes it bit better with some unique camera angles, like from high altitude planes. But, though the story begins well, it goes on to become too confusing. Now, I know that you may say, “How come you gave Memento a 5/5 rating?” Yes, Memento is also confusing, but there is a reasonable ambiguity and also a very believable explanation of the plot. But here, there is no ambiguity at the end: it is pretty straightforward. The film is just a maze of a simple story.
 |
| Strong as Hani Salaam |
There are several unwanted incidents in the film. For example, I don’t think the character of Nizar does anything to the film. He just comes for 5 minutes in the film, and dies anyway, without contributing to the story much. There are many characters in the film, and so, it gets a wee bit confusing, mainly because it takes a while to understand who is who. The thing that drives the story in the second half is the romance between Ferris and Aisha. If this romance had not been there, then the film would have lasted only for about 80 minutes. While Scott portrays some other aspects of the war realistically, the relationship between Ferris and Aisha is unrealistic. (The remaining paragraph may have spoilers) in the second half of the film, Aisha is kidnapped, and Ferris offers to turn himself instead of her, and then the story goes on. Now, in my opinion, soldiers, or anyone participating in the war in the actual location, should not have any emotional attachments. The second half of the story is entirely based on this romance. So, what I am saying is, Scott drives the film using only an unrealistic romance.
 |
| Farahani as Aisha |
The acting is excellent. DiCaprio doesn’t disappoint with his acting. Crowe, unlike DiCaprio, doesn’t have any action, but only dialogues. Yet, he has also acted well. Strong’s acting is the best. He speaks an excellent Middle Eastern accent, and portrays a character who is kind of a half-villain, half-hero. Many critics have called him a James Bondish villain. Despite the great acting, I think that the characters are odd. Like I said, Ferris’ unrealistic romance drives the story in the last hour or so. Crowe’s character is kind of weird. He tells Ferris what all to do, from his home in Washington, and not from Iraq or any neighbouring countries. His character is kind of a like a puppeteer, and it looks like he has no interest in war.
The photography is good. The scenes of the war are pretty realistic, and the few action sequences are well-shot. Few twists are satisfying, but most of the other ones add to the confusion and not to entertainment.
Overall, Body of Lies is a good war thriller, but an average film. The acting of DiCaprio, Strong and Crowe is excellent. The photography is good, and the war settings and scenes are realistic. Yet, this film has a very complicated and boring story, and lot of unwanted scenes. If you are a fan of any of the actors, go for it; you will like all their performances. However, if you are a Ridley Scott fan, you may be disappointed.
My Rating: 2.5/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 54%
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