Title: Body of Lies

Director: Ridley Scott    

Screenplay: William Monahan

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong, Golshifteh Farahani

Genre: Action/Thriller

Runtime: 128 min.

Rated: R

Released: October 10^th, 2008

Whether it is because of America’s desire for escapism, because of the lack of quality, or because of something else, films about the Iraq War have consistently failed at the box office. It’s baffling that these movies keep finding financing. Body of Lies, however, may be the film that breaks the commercial losing streak. It pairs an A-list cast with an A-list director and an A-List screenwriter. Director Ridley Scott and star Russell Crowe are still feeling the success of the excellent American Gangster, Screenwriter William Monahan and star Leonardo DiCaprio were both major players in Martin Scorsese’s Oscar winning The Departed. Based on a novel by David Ignatius, Body of Lies should have been an unprecedented success. Unfortunately, the movie just isn’t very good.

The film follows Roger Ferris (DiCaprio), a CIA counter-terrorist stationed in the Middle East. After quickly being moved out of Iraq after botching an operation, Ferris begins an operation in Amman, Jordan, where he plans to pull a sting operation at a safe house for Al Qaeda members. Behind the scenes, Ed Hoffman (Crowe) pulls the strings from Washington, only letting Ferris know certain amounts of information. In Jordan, Ferris aligns himself Hani Salaam (Mark Strong), the ruthless “king” of Jordanian intelligence, who at one point tells Hoffman that American intelligence isn’t trustworthy “because it is a democracy”. Together, the three hatch various plans and operations (and various side plans and side operations), each one rarely telling each other the whole truth about what they’re doing and often ruining the plans of other two. By the end of the movie, only the patient will understand what’s going on

At the beginning of the film, Hoffman announces to his superiors that it is a myth that the enemy grows weaker with more war. In fact, the enemy adapts to American tactics of warfare. They give up the internet and cell phones, essentially disappearing from the modern map of technological innovation. It should be a bit ironic that Hoffman is constantly on his cell phone, but it just makes Hoffman seem ignorant. Ferris is a sympathetic character, but even his best-laid plans result in the death of innocent people. Unfortunately, the narrative contains too much information for a 128 minute running time. Although some interesting themes are explored, they are lost in endless plot contortions and poorly developed characters.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s acting is a problem here; he exhibits the same intensity he did in Blood Diamond, but without the funny accent. If DiCaprio keeps developing this persona, it will be troublesome in the future; the man never seems to lighten up. Although Crowe gained 63 pounds for his role, he phones it in here and never seems like a man capable of attaining such a high position within the Agency. Mark Strong is formidable as Hani Salaam, and after this role and a very different role in RocknRolla, his profile may soon rise in Hollywood. Alon Abutbul is also strong in his role as the terrorist Al Saleemi, despite limited screen time. Another major problem with the film is an especially contrived subplot concerning Aida (Golshifteh Farahani), Ferris’ love interest. It’s hard to believe screenwriter William Monahan was happy with her role before the film went into production. In a film of mediocrity, this subplot sticks out as the worst part. This blame can’t be laid on Farahani, who is perfectly acceptable as an actress, but on Monahan and Scott, who really should have known better

I went into this film with high expectations. I respect and admire all four of the main parties involved with this film, but it was a major disappointment. Not all of it is awful, and I doubt it could be completely awful with Ridley Scott at the helm. The action is well made, if not always inspired, and the movie avoids the pratfalls of idolizing the main characters, as seen in the recent Middle East-themed Stop-Loss and The Kingdom. As far as recent movies about the Middle East go, Body of Lies ranks above those two films, but below In The Valley of Elah and Jarhead. Hopefully for their next effort, all of the people involved in Body of Lies will pull their socks up and go back to making quality movies.