Body of Lies
Let me start out by pointing out I had no expectations about this movie. It wasn’t on my radar and were it not for this advance screening I would of missed it al together. Now this review is a great opportunity for you to decide if Ridley Scott’s new movie Body of Lies is the right one for you to see this week-end.
The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Russel Crowe, it’s an action-spy-drama. So from the very first scene my mind started wandering off as to why in God’s name are they making a movie about the War on Terror[ists] and how Hollywood keeps dishing out movies related to various threats around the world. When will the Russians come back as top dawgs bad guys? Never mind the personal thoughts, this movie has some serious story behind it, and if you’re not paying attention you will miss out on a lot of the intrigue. It’s called Body of Lies for many reasons, there are many lies and betrayals that turn out to be quite surprising and keep you on high alert. There is a cute love interest in the movie and even some light comic relief that helps the audience get away from the heavy subject of the movie: What are we doing in the Middle East? Our hero has been living there and knows how to work cases, he puts his trust into people and doesn’t like when bureaucrats screw up a good plan. Overall the movie depicts what I would believe to be a very credible situation and how the government is/might be dealing with it.
It’s not for the faint of heart and the final act is heart wrenching (Braveheart level). Really not a popcorn flick, can’t sit down to relax and follow the ride, it’s bumpy, tricky and very tasteful (see Eagle Eye if you need action packed stuff). I would recommend you seeing this movie to spur up some discussions among friends, the ending is as open as the reality on which it is based. I really appreciate where DiCaprio is going with his career (The Departed, Blood Diamonds) because I can finally put away his performance in Titanic and forget all about it.