Body Of Lies (Warner Brothers)
The War Movie Curse
Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe co-star in the new film Body of Lies. This is the latest in a series of movies about the war in Iraq. As such it might just suffer the same fate most of the other war movies did not pulling in the box office it should. The American public has not shown a tolerance or appreciation for movies about the current conflict, and though the movie is a fairly good one it arrives with a heavy burden on its shoulders.
DiCaprio plays Roger Ferris a government operative in the Middle East. He is managed from Washington by Ed Hoffman (Crowe). They stay in touch mostly by cell phone (and their service connection is always good). Hoffman can also keep up with Ferris by spy satellite.
Ferris takes a lot of risks in order to do his job but he is willing to sacrifice much to serve his country. Hoffman treats each operation more like a game and his lack of sympathy or empathy for the people involved on the ground is rubbing Ferris wrong. Still these two share a symbiotic relationship and need each other in order to survive and succeed.
The movie is a little difficult to follow at times. There are a lot of plots and subplots that dont come together till the end of the movie. The audience seems to be led astray by the insertion of a romance for Ferris with a local woman (Golshifteh Farahani) but even that relationship has an impact on the ending.
The acting is top drawer. DiCaprio has never seemed as mature and as heroic as he does here. Crowe is overweight and laconic and totally into his role. The two men use their conversations like a tennis volley and it is a game of the giants. They play off each other with enthusiasm and skill, each raising the others game.
Mark Strong is also very good as Hani, one of the leaders of the Jordan government. He makes the man like quicksilver, always elusive. He also offers strong support to Crowe and DiCaprio.
The film is rated R for profanity and violence. There is also an intense torture sequence that is not for the weak of heart or stomach.
Body of Lies is a good movie but maybe not good enough to overcome the war movie curse. It has the talent in the cast and the action in the direction of Ridley Scott, but its box office well we will just have to wait and see.
I scored Body of Lies a false 6 out of 10.
