“Body of Lies” is a widespread tale of political intrigue and espionage that follows CIA agent Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio), as he and his boss, Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe), follow the trail of a deadly terrorist leader throughout the Middle East.

Written by screenwriter William Monahan (“The Departed”), the story for “Body of Lies” works very well during the first half of the film. Monahan keeps the plot moving along at a very comfortable pace that doesn’t rush the story or allow it to become confusing. He gives the audience time to process the information being presented to them, for a moment, before moving on to the next piece of the puzzle (something that other films like this should maybe take note of.) When the story is focused on the espionage and politics of conducting the war from the perspective of those actually doing the legwork the film works extremely well, and is very entertaining; however, approximately halfway through the movie the story hits a massive snag that it never seems to fully recover from.

The snag is a romantic plot development that feels tacked on to appease the female members of the audience who may not be as into the spy stuff that has dominated the majority of the film thus far. I’m not against there being any kind of romance in these films, but this one in particular felt unnecessary and frankly, hard to believe. I mean, Ferris (DiCaprio) is an undercover agent working essentially behind enemy lines, and yet he never really stops to think that perhaps starting a relationship while taking on such high risk assignments might be a bad idea? Give me a break. I will give William Monahan some credit though, because he did still manage to give me some surprises in the latter half of the movie, even though the story’s focus and overall tone seemed to have shifted due to the romance. While the twists were somewhat surprising, the plot points leading up to them in the second hour were far too predictable, and at times frustrating when you stop to think that the first hour was very well crafted and top of the line by comparison. What I wish could be done is have William Monahan go back and re-write the last half of the script, completely removing the uninteresting romantic angle, and just focus on the tension-filled action and intrigue that comprised the far superior first half of the film. Had the film worked out that way, then it would have become the best of its sub-genre; instead of being just barely above average.

To director Ridley Scott’s (“American Gangster”) credit, even though the film’s story stumbles along in the final half, he does manage to keep things interesting thanks in no small part to his fast-paced, kinetically charged style of directing. The use of the handheld camera was a smart choice, allowing the audience a sense that they are right in the middle of all the action; therefore keeping them interested and involved to an extent. It was a very wise move on the director’s part, and one that most likely kept the movie from being completely derailed by a much weaker secondary storyline that become the primary near the end of the film.

Even when this film began to stumble around, stars Leonardo DiCaprio (“The Departed”) and Russell Crowe (“Gladiator”) continued to lend their best efforts to keep the quality of the film elevated as much as possible. DiCaprio continues to impress me as an actor of great range, depth, and talent with his recent crop of dramatic work. Back when he first became a huge star thanks to the extremely overrated mega blockbuster “Titanic”, I thought he was only alright, but not the kind of star that would really have any kind of staying power. However, after his remarkable performance in “The Aviator”, followed by “The Departed”, I am being forced to change my opinion regarding his talents. With Russell Crowe I didn’t really know much of his work prior to the smash hit “Gladiator”, but since then he has consistently remained one of the best actors of his generation, a testament which he has proven true time and again with many classic roles in films, such as: “Cinderella Man”, “A Beautiful Mind”, and “American Gangster”.

DiCaprio’s character of Roger Ferris is a man who is very complicated, and apparently extremely contradictory in his motivations and sense of duty. On one hand he appears unwavering, cold, and calculated towards his duty to protect his country and its interests, which at times calls for rather extreme measures to be taken; however, on the other hand, he conveys a sense of regret for some of his actions and questions whether he is doing the right thing. It is this duality that makes his character appear interesting and more human, yet also makes one wonder about how consistently he has been written. For example, there is an event that occurs in the film which was set in motion by Ferris, yet when completed and some repercussions are dealt, he quickly flounders on whether on not what he did was right and/or necessary (even though at the time he felt it was), and even attempts to pass the buck onto his boss. This type of floundering began to feel distracting, and coincidentally began occurring in the latter half of the film, when Monahan’s screenplay was falling apart for other reasons.

As for Russell Crowe’s performance as the conniving, opportunistic, and morally questionable Ed Hoffman, it is a very different kind of character than many of his more memorable ones from films past. Just as he had done for “The Insider” and “A Beautiful Mind”, Crowe portrays a man noticeably older and grayer than he, and even appeared to add a few extra pounds to “fill out” the character. Even with Crowe’s charismatic performance and dedication to the role, I just don’t believe that this will be one of his most revered performances of his acclaimed career. In my opinion I believe Crowe’s performance did partially suffer from the fact that most of his time onscreen was spent talking on the phone. While plenty of phone conversations have made for some truly exciting and scintillating moments in movie history, I don’t believe a character should be on the phone almost the entire time, it just feels distant and impersonal to the audience.

What started out as a really solid espionage thriller set around the ongoing War on Terror, began to collapse onto itself when an unnecessary romantic plot development caused the film to stumble throughout the latter half of the story.

“Body of Lies” is rated R for violence and language.

*** ½ Out of 5

Release Date- October 10th, 2008

Running Time- 128-Minutes

Rating- R

Screenplay- William Monahan

Director- Ridley Scott

Starring- Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong, Ali Suliman, Golshifteh Farahani

I was quite excited for Body of Lies due to the talent that was involved. While I’m not a huge fan of Russell Crowe he is a very talented actor and in my opinion Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the very best if not the best actor working today and of course with Ridley Scott directing that also got my interest. But while I did like Body of Lies I have to admit I did find this to be a pretty big letdown. Maybe my expectations were too high, but when all was said and done Body of Lies was good, but it could have been a lot more.

The screenplay by William Monahan is well written and plotted, but there just seems to be something missing. The characters I just couldn’t make a connection with and for me that was the biggest problem. The characters are interesting, but never given much depth and while again the script was well written in general my only problem was the lack of depth to the characters; the plot is strong, but I also felt at times certain plot points weren’t set up enough. Again the script was good, but just lacking in certain areas.

The strongest parts of the script for me was when Roger Ferris (DiCaprio) has lunch with Aisha (Golshifteh Farahani) and her family; in these scenes is where there is a little more depth to the characters and I think more scenes like that would have greatly helped the movie.

Director Ridley Scott does a fine job with the pacing; Body of Lies moves at a solid pace and there’s never really a slow moment and the action scenes are quite well done. It is possible to have a movie well written, directed and acted, but yet not fully work. Body of Lies was a good movie, but was lacking the extra something that separates good movies from great movies. Scott though gets the job done and I think it was more of the script than the directing. The final act though was excellent and tension filled and in these scenes is where Ridley Scott really succeeds.

Russell Crowe as Ed Hoffman delivers a solid performance, but he wasn’t used to his full potential and while again it was a good performance he didn’t show how talented he is. The biggest selling point for me was Leonardo DiCaprio who I honestly feel will go down as the greatest actor of his generation his talents as an actor is awe inspiring, but like Crowe, Leo isn’t allowed to show his full range. Leo’s performance was no doubt another winner in a career, which is shaping up to be legendary. The body of work he’s done in the past few years is truly amazing, but when you have an actor like Leo you need to take full advantage and again Leo delivers another excellent performance, but he just wasn’t used to his fullest potential. Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani in her American film debut was the standout and nearly steals the show.

Overall Body of Lies was a solid, but flawed movie; while the movie was good like I said I just felt as if it was missing that extra something that separates good movies from great movies. But with all that said Body of Lies is a good movie, but could have been more.

The Blu-ray is loaded with extra features that cover pretty much every aspect of the film and they are also in HD. The picture quality is brilliant and the sound is great. The 2-disc DVD is about the same price as the BD, but for the extra couple of dollars I’d highly recommend the Blu-ray

I had read the reviews. So, I was NOT sure what to expect.

ONE THING I HAVE HATED ABOUT THE MARKETING OF THE FILM. CREDIT FOR ACTORS….I’m sorry but should NOT the Oscar winner get top billing over the Oscar nominee? Leo got top billing over Russell just because of “The Nudie Boat Movie”?

This was a big mistake.

The film is good. Not great. Russell did his usual good job with his role. Once again playing a character older & larger (he had to put on weight again like he did in “The Insider”).

All Leo does is be angry, yell & curse.

I did expect more with this 2 disc DVD package. Commentary from Ridley & a couple of writers. NO actor commentary. Russell should have been there, remember he & Ridley have now worked together 4 times. Just no real special extras on this except for the digital copy disc. Only good to input for a year after DVD release.

Then, another credit problem. When you read the back the DVD they credit Ridley with “American Gangster” & “Black Hawk Down”. How about “Blade Runner”, a little Best Picture & Actor winner “Gladiator”, “Alien” etc.

No chapter list sheet inside.

A good film I want to say again.

It’s a Ridley Scott film, which means superb craftsmanship, and has an excellent cast with DiCaprio and Crowe in the lead, but I think both are trumped by Mark Strong’s Hani, the sophisticated and cultured head of Jordanian Intelligence, who delivers the film’s best moments, as well as its sub-theme that technology cannot replace human intelligence in the struggle against jihadists.

The technology presented is stunning if it is truly that advanced. But the real espionage war is presented as down and dirty in the trenches. There are some side trips with DiCaprio’s interest in a young Muslim nurse, but these are thinly developed and mostly it is a fast paced action thriller, with some nice details.

I was troubled by the Russell Crowe character. While duplicity and bureaucratic back-stabbing are certainly part of life in the CIA as in any large organization, a boss that constantly undercuts and double crosses you would not inspire much confidence and loyalty, and I don’t think would rise to such a position of power. Sure, he might do dirt to rivals in the office, but to constantly lie to and subvert the field operatives that risk their lives for you seems an unlikely path for career advancement. No one would work for you. But what do I know?

All in all, a gritty and fast paced entertainment. Like some other reviewers, I didn’t find any great revelations here, but it was good movie-making done well and it was worth a look.