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Body of Lies Movie Review

Body of Lies is a 2008 spy action thriller film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe. It’s one of Scott’s most forgettable outings.

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“You Americans, you are incapable of secrecy because you are a democracy“

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After Roger, a CIA agent, learns about the location of a terrorist’s operations, he embarks on a mission to catch the terrorist. But he is unable to trust his superiors while going about his mission. I get what Ridley Scott was trying to do here – he wanted to make a modern and timely take on the usual spy action narrative. It was a fine idea, but the execution is so mediocre that he ruined any potential that this premise might have had in the first place.

For one, he basically made a very old-fashioned and I would even say tiresome genre flick that felt dated as soon as it was released. The geopolitical intricacies of its plot were very much sidelined in favor of genre thrills. The action is well executed, but so overwhelming that it made me lose interest in the movie very rapidly. It also doesn’t help that the runtime is quite long and that the story overall is implausible and preposterous.

Body of Lies has very good performances from its talented cast. Leonardo DiCaprio was very good, though somewhat typecast in the main role. Russell Crowe gained a lot of weight for his role and he was very effective, but his effort wasn’t worth it on this mediocre movie. Others were all uninteresting with the exception of Mark Strong, who was miscast as a Jordanian, but he was so fun and interesting that he elevated his weak role effortlessly.

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While definitely very well shot and featuring some great takes, the movie is far from engaging given that its spy action plot was very familiar and uninspired. The sound, score and production design are all fine, but the directing, dialogue and script left a lot to be desired in what is one of Scott’s most unnecessary features.