Body of Lies
2008 Directed by Ridley Scott
Synopsis
Trust no one. Deceive everyone.
Body of Lies follows CIA operative, Roger Ferris, as he uncovers a lead on a major terrorist leader suspected to be operating out of Jordan. When Ferris devises a plan to infiltrate his network, he must first win the backing of cunning CIA veteran Ed Hoffman and the collegial, but perhaps suspect, head of Jordanian intelligence.
Cast
Popular reviews
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I like Ridley Scott but I can't trust a director who ends a middle eastern terrorist thriller with a Guns n Roses song.
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Another of Sir Ridley's under-appreciated recent efforts,this has three stand-out performances from the central players. Leonardo DiCaprio,Russell Crowe and Mark Strong provide the acting class in a solid spy thriller that has the CIA in search of an elusive terrorist in Iraq.
DiCaprio is the field-agent undercover in the Middle East being "ran" from back home by a larger than life Russell Crowe in a complex and in-depth exploration of the war on terror. Moving between Iraq,Jordan and Syria we have DiCaprio going through the mill as Crowe conducts his own covert actions that interfere with his Jordanian government backed own. Mark Strong excels as Jordanian intelligence chief Hani Salaam and outshines both his illustrious counterparts with a measured and… -
Ridley Scott's political thriller, scripted by William Monahan (The Departed, Kingdom of Heaven) has great directing, classy writing and strong performances from Russell Crowe, Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Strong. Too downbeat and morally ambiguous for mainstream audiences, perhaps, but an underrated conspiracy thriller in my opinion.
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A slow-burning and politically astute thriller, "Body of Lies" succeeds thanks to its pedigree: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, and Mark Strong in effective performances, a pretzel-knot of a screenplay, and a certain, Ridley Scott-imbued elegance.
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Couldn't decide whether to give it 4 or 5, but I thought fuck it, I really enjoyed this. A great character study; Leo gives one of the best performances he's ever given, and it contains some pretty shocking moments. I'm calling this one underrated.
I mean seriously, Green Zone has a better rating than this on this site. Like, are you high?
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I would only expect fans of the genre to find this average espionage thriller anything other than a bore.
Recent reviews
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I like Ridley Scott but I can't trust a director who ends a middle eastern terrorist thriller with a Guns n Roses song.
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This is not one of Ridley Scotts best efforts as a director, but it is not a bad movie either. It is an intelligent thriller about CIA operatives in the Middle East and how they try to uncover terrorist cells. Leonardo Di Caprio plays the lead as he is one of the agents in the line of duty, while Russell Crowe is the handler making all the decisions through his phone from America in a quite comfortable situation as opposed to his agent. The movie is not original and it doesnt help that very similar movies have come out recently such as The Kingdom, The Traitor, Lambs for Lions, and Rendition. Body of Lies ismuch better than those movies, but…
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I would only expect fans of the genre to find this average espionage thriller anything other than a bore.
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How can a Ridley Scott film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe be so mind numbingly dull.This is Zero Dark Thirty lite and the only person to come out of it well is Mark Strong, who you can always depend on.
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Perfectly content with being just another standard, dull, political thriller fresh of the assembly line, which is a shame considering all the talent involved
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Brilliant plot, excellent filming and editing. DiCaprio's very best acting I have seen so far. Highly recommended for everone interested in far east CIA stories. Russel Crowe is also very good, though he plays an unpleasant person - a laid back, negligent person - I doubt that the CIA employs such people. But who knows... Is the Body of Lies!
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DiCaprio is able to choose roles, thus he hones his acting skills.
I really like movies on Middle Eastern theme, that is my professional. -
Looks great in places, DiCaprio is fantastic, Crowe has a dodgy accent; fairly standard stuff then.
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Formulaic and not even very nice to look at by Ridley Scott's standards.