Review: “Body of Lies” (2008)

Leonardo DiCaprio plays the man in the middle in Ridley Scotts action thriller Body of Lies (2008), caught between the CIA and Jordan intelligence as he tracks down a powerful terrorist leader responsible for ongoing attacks across Europe and America.

The film moves along at a slick pace, jumping from location to location, situation to situation and ties are formed and destroyed from scene to scene. DiCaprio does a good job of holding the film together as the young upcoming agent looking to make his mark in the region, and Russell Crowe is almost unrecognisable as his arrogant, family-man/CIA overseer who continually interferes in fragile situations. The movie also does well at illustrating the complexity of the situation it is attempting to depict, and although the main thrust is the hunt for a major terrorist leader, not everything is simply painted as black and white. This is a film about relationships and information, and the way in which people can be manipulated and the truth distorted.

Body of Lies (2008) is a tense, thrilling and visually arresting fictional look at a situation that is still ongoing, and does an effective job of showing the cultural, political and moral complexity of a horrible ongoing conflict. However, the film doesn’t tread into too serious territory and remains unbelievable enough to remain an enjoyable, although somewhat more serious than most, action movie.

★★★☆☆