Henry Saw: Body of Lies

I mean I guess this wasn't so bad but to quote Weezer..."why bother"?


I saw Body of Lies last Sunday actually, but my internet was out, so I'm just now getting around to a review of the film. I saw the movie with Ben, and I know Sam saw it, so I hope they at least add some comments to this review. Any, enough set-up, onto the content:

So Ridley Scott, director of some of my favorite films (Alien, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down), was behind the camera for Body Of Lies which really is The Bourne Ultimatum meets Syriana as another critic said. It is a simplistic but effective way to describe the film. Dicaprio plays a CIA agent rooted in the Middle East who has to deal with American bureaucracy (represented by Bill Clinton clone Russel Crowe) and Middle Eastern politics (personified in a brilliant performance by Mark Strong). Dicaprio's character is after a Bin Laden facsimile and when the movie is focused on his attempts to get himself close to his target is when the movie shines. It is when the movie is trying too hard to entertain or make a point that the movie loses me.

Dicaprio is good, more Blood Diamond quality than The Departed, but he is unquestionably developed a strong presence on the screen. Russel Crowe is kind of awful...well that's not fair. He plays the character. But the character kind of sucks. And had the role been written just slightly differently, and played by a different actor with a different persona (Denzel Washington would have been perfect), I think the movie would have worked much better. The stand out, as I mentioned, is Mark Strong playing an Middle Eastern government agent. He's brilliant in the film and this far into the year, I see no reason he shouldn't be nominated for best supporting actor.

The movie just didn't click for me unfortunately. It's perfectly fine, and it is better than critics have said it is, but it just wasn't strong enough in any particular way. It's not a great espionage movie, or action movie, or political thriller, or...anything. It just kind of exists; with no great flaws but no great selling points.

Really, its not that bad, and if you wanna see it...that's not a terrible decision. It's a well made film. But you really don't HAVE to see it. It adds nothing new to the world and just doesn't have enough energy to justify mine recommending it that strongly.

Grade: B-

Best Scene? A lunch scene between Dicaprio and an Middle Eastern girl's extended family.