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DiCaprio! Crowe! Strong! Scott! Capone unravels BODY OF LIES!!!
Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here.
Director Ridley Scott is a machine. The man cranks out a movie ever year or two, and almost without fail they are well worth watching. He's also a man who loves to take often-complicated stories and tell them in a way that to some degree makes sense. Oh, and he likes to blow shit up. Well, with BODY OF LIES he gets to do all of these things and produce a cynical and smart look at the way America does business in the Middle East. In many ways, the film reminded me of a less-complicated version of Syriana, complete with a marquee-topping actor (in this case Russell Crowe in his fourth collaboration with Scott) gaining lots of weight to underscore what Scott and screenwriter William (THE DEPARTED) Monahan see as America's brassy, pushy, bullying ways in foreign lands.
Playing his supremely effective version of an antihero (as he's done before in BLOOD DIAMOND and THE DEPARTED, to name a couple), Leonardo DiCaprio is Roger Ferris, a CIA operative/"political advisor" working anywhere in the Middle East he is required. Ferris has clearly spent an inordinate amount of time learning the cultures in which he works and the intricacies of each government, so he can work in both overt and covert manners to achieve and protect U.S. goals. He spends most of the film in Jordan in pursuit of a top terrorist leader hiding in the kingdom. His relationship with Crowe's Ed Hoffman, a stateside CIA man (the two are rarely on screen together as they communicate primarily by cell phone), is abrasive at best, but the two clearly form a perfect union of brains, brawn and resources to make most missions play out exactly how they plan them. Overplaying slightly with his heavy Southern accent and protruding belly, Crowe (DiCaprio's co-star from 1995's THE QUICK AND THE DEAD) is actually tons of fun to watch fast-talk and run circles around his man in the field. We trust nothing that Hoffman says, and much of the film is a guessing game to see how he'll screw up Ferris' mission. Their interplay is often confounding but never boring.
Scott's secret weapon in BODY OF LIES is British actor Mark Strong, who plays Hani, the head of the Jordanian secret police. I feel the need to point out that he's British because I think anyone watching this movie would assume he's actually an actor of Middle Eastern decent. He's unbelievably good here in his scene assisting and guiding DiCaprio through the labyrinth that is Jordanian culture. Even in not-so-great movies, Strong has always risen above, making memorable supporting appearances in such films as SYRIANA, SUNSHINE, STARDUST, and MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY. And looking at his list of upcoming projects, you get sense that the man is about to deservedly break through in a big way very soon. For me, this is the role that does that. Hani is impossible to read, smarter and better informed than anyone else in the room, knows exactly when to utilize the many resources at his disposal, and can accurately predict how his friends and enemies will respond to every move he makes. And somehow we know this just from watching Strong's performance. He's the scene-stealer who isn't trying to steal the scene (unlike Crowe, for example).
I should also give credit to Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani, who plays a nurse taking care of Ferris. He falls for her, but the culture dictates the course and manner of their courtship. Even an attempt to shake her hand in public must be rebuffed. It's an interesting and welcome softening of DiCaprio's character, but we ultimately know that his enemies will exploit the relationship.
BODY OF LIES has a complicated but not impenetrable plot about the pursuit of this top terrorist. I wouldn't recommend a bathroom break during the film for fear of missing a key piece of information, but beyond that, I think a reasonably intelligent person will be able to keep up. Scott may pack one too many action sequence in the film, but he stages them so beautifully, you can't stay mad at him. The performances are all staggeringly good, although Crowe comes dangerously close to parody. There's a sequence where Hoffman flies to Jordan to meet Hani to discuss a resource Hani has in the terrorist organization. Hoffman wants access to this insider and he won't leave until Hani agrees. We already know how the scenario is going to play out, so it feels a bit extraneous and unnecessary to let the scene play for as long as it does, when clearly it's just another excuse to let Crowe ham it up and play the quintessential asshole, which he does remarkably well. But even Crowe's slight overacting isn't enough to sink this ship. DiCaprio is too good as the worn-out, wavering centerpiece, while Strong continues to impress me as the film unexpected anchor. If you'd rather not turn your brain off at the box office, BODY OF LIES is best movie opening this weekend.
-- Capone
capone@aintitcoolmail.com
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of Scott's work, and I am sure this will have some well executed action scenes, beautiful set design and cinematography. But, this looks a lot like a Bourne rip off. But sometimes the rip off actually improves the genera, the way Se7en took the great Silence of-the-Lambs-serial-killer-film and made it creepier. Who knows, with Monahan penning this, it may be OK. Time will tell.
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How good was it?
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or is it gray? I never can remember. Di Caprio was a quasi-hero in the Departed, like Damon was a quasi antihero. Both do good things and bad things, though what ultimately motivates them is what defines their morality. Of course, for this i only expect di caprio and the arabs to be grey characters, while Crowe, representing American foreign policy, will be the personification of evil. Consistency is comforting, no?
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He'll be the 2009 version of 2008's Mickey Rourke!
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...is DiCaprio thinks he's an action star when he's clearly not. He cannot pull off tough in any movie ever.
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For those that haven't seen the mini-series The Long Firm track it down. Was the first thing i saw Strong in and knew that he had a great career ahead of him (or deserved one at least). He's had one hell of a year or two movie wise and even when the movie sucks (eg Babylon A.D) Strong manages to come through with his dignity intact. Can't wait to see more of him on screen.
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Please!!! Mercy!!!
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1. Blade Runner 2. Alien 3. 1492 Conquest of Paradise 4. Kingdom of Heaven Director's Cut 5. Legend
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She is dum dumb dume!
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Kwisa - damn you've got a hard name to type - I like your top 5 list, but 1492 CONQUEST OF PARADISE - wtf?!! A decent enough movie perhaps, but not great in relation to Scott's other filmography (GLADIATOR, THELMA & LOUISE, BLACK HAWK DOWN, BLACK RAIN, take your pick...). Anyway, this new one sounds good, but maybe low key enough to make it more of a rental than a cinema trip...
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as he has done for many years over here in British film and TV, you just KNOW that this guy will fuck you up in ways you didn't think was possible. Top quality actor.
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my request to put on the Wonder Woman costume
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Thought it was a drag. Nothing criminally bad about the film - in fact there's a lot of good. But it doesn't ad up. All the material has been played before, and better. Crowe and DiCaprio and Scott and Monahan all do what they were hired to do but there isn't any passion in it, which is probably because there isn't any material here to be passionate about. This won't be the film to bring people to "Iraq War Films".
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But hes getting the big push awfully hard and that has notoriously derailed a load o promising careers. Hopefully he'll be able to navigate the minefield of H'wood and come out ahead.
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but Mori hated it.. now i dont know what to do. I gotta think for myself, dammit
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and they were lame. You know what I did about that? I stopped watching them.
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though I liked it a little more. I think it works as a procedural so I wasn't as turned off by the shortage of passion. Crowe is very good and the entire supporting cast, led by Strong, is solid. Also, Monahan has cornered the market on cell phone movies. Next time he needs to cut out all face-to-face interaction entirely. That way there would be even more dramatic cell phone closing or hands-free earpiece yanking.
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