Body of Lies (2008)

Strong and Moving!

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Better Late Then Never

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

The movies was well made. I enjoyed it very much at the beginning then it starts to be dull. as an Arab who watched this movie I have some notes that I want to clarify, first it was stupid when leo said to the nurse are you Iranian and she didn't even talk enough Arabic so he could notice and even leo doesn't know that much of Arabic in the film. 2 there is no way to date an Arab girl as easy as shown in the film Arabs are so strict on their daughters especially when it comes to deal with men outside the family how about foreign man . 3 Arabs community = male-dominant community so how come at Aisha's house there is no men at all if there would be a chance to still see this American men will get involve for sure. 4 women dont sit in coffee shops even with girlfriends in front of men like that local and tiny coffe shops like that considered for men. 5 I don't buy that whole story with leo and Aisha and how in this short while of knowing Aisha he became willing to sacrifice himself for her I don't think that any agent in reality would do that it makes no sense . 6 they are keep saying koskos as a name of a meal but the meal koskos is actually Moroccan not from Jordan. 7 this one is very naive see the scene where leo was about to die the Arabic man said death for the non believer blah blah blah then he says (tashahad ala rouhk) that means say the shahada on yourself its an Islamic thing how u say that at him and he is a non beliver or christian or whatever. I hated these stupid yet important deatiles they should pay more attention after all the movie was very good but this semi ruined it.

Crowe got second billing and they gave the limelight to DiCaprio instead...that's a great idea. that means that, as usual, DiCaprio is going to shine doing his "this is how you become a different person" thing and Crowe is going to actually act and not just try to hog the limelight.The result is a tense and very well acted film.It should have been a Masterpiece but...it was released in 2008 and America wanted pure escapism then, not tense spy thrillers that reflect the reality of two long endless wars...and it was released a little too close to The Good Shepard.In fact, it felt a lot like the Good Shepard set in the modern era.It was the Good Shepard with more action.It was The Good Shepard with better acting, but only just.So, if it waited another 2 years, we would have had a great film in a time when we were slowly starting to relax a little again.If it waited 4 years, The Good Shepard would have been a distant memory and the shady CIA boss character would have seemed fresher.Don't misunderstand, Crowe actually acts again and DiCaprio shines as usual, you will totally enjoy this movie.The flaws are not its own, but rather a result of bad timing, pure and simple.It should have been more, but the zietgiest wasn't there yet.

This movie is so underrated across the board that even I am penning a down a review for it 7 years after I actually watched it. Back then , the decision to buy the tickets was more due to the cast and production credentials than anything else. Also (fortunately ) unlike these days my dependence upon the internet was rather limited preventing me to form opinions about movies which hadn't hit the screens. How I miss those days!Anyhow, moving on from nostalgia to this movie. With super sharp direction, a splendidly candid story, a smart screenplay , Body of Lies was undoubtedly one of the better geo-political espionage movies to have hit the screens in a long time. Cutting loose from the browbeaten tales of the Cold War, the movie offers a chillingly fresh view of the troubled Gulf politics. The scenes and sequences are extremely well shot , and build up a very attentive volume of cinematic tension on screen-an absolute fundamental for any movie in the genre. There is a dominant yet subtle aroma of suspense and anticipation something that was deliberately effaced by the 007 franchise of the 70's and 90's with License to Kill(1989) being a pleasant exception.The plot is believable and the editor avoids narcissistic over indulgence . The entire cast has done a commendable job. Leonardo , accordingly to me, carries on his good work from The Departed (2006) as a wily, calculative yet conscience stricken agent looking to do the job for the flag. Russell Crowe plays out a character well suited to his on screen persona . But it is Mark Strong who injects the extra zing into the movie. His casting is perfect in the role of a local intelligence baron. The movie is a great suspense thriller with good action scenes and credible storytelling . It is thoroughly underrated and I cannot assign any reason for this . Unfortunately this means that it will not be telecast often on television unlike The World is Not Enough. My advice would be to watch it at least once .

I thought this was going to be a water tight, entertaining thriller. But I was not that entertained. It is well made, the camera work, acting, action, that's all good. The problem is that it didn't engage me very much, and it was.. kind of boring. I wouldn't normally score a movie as low as I have here, but when a thriller isn't thrilling, well that is pretty much a fail. It is too long. Parts of it are pretty exciting, but when you start thinking that you hope it's over soon, that's just not good.I did expect it to be somewhat different than it turned out to be, but had it been really good, it wouldn't have mattered. Here it did. It's got good actors, it looks good, has some truly entertaining parts, but all in all, you'll forget it pretty fast. And unless you're a total nut about the subject matter, you might find yourself planning your next meal during it.