Body of Lies ~ Wheres The Plot In This War On Terror?

Here we have a film about failed government cloak-and-dagger missions in Iraq and the Middle East.Leonardo DiCaprio is a cautious yet disillusioned operative who takes order from his slightly paunchy ...

Here we have a film about failed government cloak-and-dagger missions in Iraq and the Middle East.

Leonardo DiCaprio is a cautious yet disillusioned operative who takes order from his slightly paunchy CIA show-runner, Russell Crowe in Body of Lies. The latter almost never leaves the US and runs DiCaprios outfit through a cellphone attached to his headset.

Each missions gets more difficult to pull off, with him pulling clandestine deals of his own with no regard for DiCaprios planning of unearthing an Osama Bin Ladin-type leader of a fanatic terrorist outfit.

There is romantic interest (stuffed in for convenience) for DiCaprio in the form of an Iranian Nurse and there is also a guy with major chops who some might recognize from Syrianna playing the head of Jordanian intelligence.

Oh, and finally the screenplay is by William Monahan who won the Oscar fro The Departed.

I wont go into plot details simply because they are too connected. Nor would I go into the dedication of DiCaprios role playing of Roger Ferris, the front-end CIA operative working right at the face of the enemy or Crows Ed Hoffman with his Texan-like accent and his task management skills (while guiding farris, he shops for groceries or take his child to the loo).

These actors, along with the spellbinding Mark Strong (Hani, the Jordanian head of intelligence), showcase some of the best qualities of watching a Ridley Scott film.

However, what I would like to do talk about the films director Ridley Scott, since Body of Lies bears all his current visual brandings. With its tight, slightly shaky camera angles and dusty colour correction, the predilection for a reality-bound plot geared by high-power performances and multiple story elements, each riveting if judged on their own right, the film sounds like a good deal to spend money on.

Even with all of Scotts essentialities crammed into it, the film lacks the weight of a substantial plot to steer it from being a run on the mill geopolitical gobbledygook spy thriller. And it also lacks proper character development by forgetting to introduce any form back story to its players (with the exception of Golshifteh Farahani, who plays DiCarprios love interest)

What one sees are pre-moulded characters moving through the film By midpoint, a string of questions sprout in an instant and one starts noting the absurdities of most the CIAs plots. Having not read the book Body of Lies is base on (it was novel by Washington Post columnist David Ignatius), one cant deduce if these decisions were practically based on models of how the CIA would react

if faced with a similar dilemma, or if the CIAs plots were there for the thriller element of the novel.

Body of Lies also has another problem. Ever so often (actually in every other scene) the film reeks of not being that big a challenge to pull off. Scott seems to be facing a dilemma similar to Steven Spielbergs since both have pulled off almost every challenge their film making now tends to emit an aura which makes it look like it was too easy to pull off.

Off course there may be problems or difficulties in production but the entire film seems to overwhelm the difficulties of the craft. Is being that good a thing?

Prominently starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong, Golshifteh Farahani and Alon Aboutboul, Body of Lies, released by Warner Bros, runs for 126 minutes with credits. It is directed by Ridley Scott who also produces with Donald De Line, and is adapted for the screen by William Monahan. DoP is Alexander Witt with editing by Pietro Scalia, the film features an almost invisible score by Marc Streitenfeld.

The film is rated R for gruesome violence, especially when the terrorists are shown breaking DiCaprios fingers with a hammer during the climax.