Body of Lies is unfortunately less than the sum of its parts. Fortunately, it’s made with a number of top quality parts (Ridley Scott, Russell Crowe, and Leonardo DiCaprio) so it’s still a very entertaining story. Crowe has worked with director Scott in previous films such as American Gangster and Gladiator and they always do well together. Body of Lies is much closer in quality, scale, and significance to the more recent American Gangster than the Academy Award winning Gladiator.
It is still a film that is worth seeing.
I am tired of films with taglines such as “Trust No One”, overly enthusiastic editing that confuses the storyline, and excessive use of technology as a plot device. It becomes clichéd, like trailers that attempt to pique interest by making the film seem incomprehensible. Reviews of the film criticized the use of cellphones but it was necessary in order to connect Crowe and DiCaprio. The two were positioned on opposite sides of the world and would not have been able to see each other personally often. (Even Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro had to interact via telephones in Heat.) I thought that it was also important to symbolize how Crowe’s Ed Hoffman was losing his grip on his personal life at the expense of his career: real-life interactions replaced by a cellphone headset.
The ensemble cast carries their share of the load. Body of Lies includes some very intense scenes that were made possible because of tremendous performances. Crowe punctuated several scenes with a memorable glance over his thick glasses.
DiCaprio’s Roger Ferris was trying to balance the priorities in his life, struggling to prevent himself from being physically and mentally destroyed. Ferris’s love interest, Aisha helped him save himself, both when he received a rabies shot at the hospital where she worked but when they fell in love later. On the other hand, the story wrapped itself up far too neatly. The plot was complicated and I found it implausible that all the loose ends were seemingly tied up.
Body of Lies means to show how the United States has lost its way in the war on terror. Hoffman says that the terrorists have simplified their existence and see the conflict as fighting “men from the future.” Jordanian intelligence chief Hani Salaam says that “the U.S. cannot keep a secret because they are a democracy.” In the end, it is Salaam’s basic methodology that surpasses the sophisticated technology and size of the C.I.A..
Scott’s contribution is fairly limited. There are some clever jump cuts that enhance the disjointed nature of the screenplay. He also captures some of the action in epic helicopter shots, showing how the audience is only watching this story from far, far away. **