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Can you remember the last time Ridley Scott made a film without Russell Crowe? Last year’s ‘American Gangster’ is an example of what happens when things go right. Sadly, ‘Body of Lies’ is not. In an adaptation of David Ignatius’ novel, DiCaprio is the obedient man on the ground, working to set a trap for the leader of a terrorist cell. His operations rely on the instructions of Crowe’s character, who holds all the information while running things from his detached position in the U.S. The pairing of Crowe and DiCaprio works well, but their characters seem clichéd and they have little to work with.
While the plot may seem convoluted the film’s message is clear, and wasn’t something I couldn’t have picked up from watching the trailer. The war on terror is being orchestrated by corpulent, middle-aged men who dish out fatal orders from the comfort of their family home. The agent in the field is doing their dirty work, despite being more willing to see the moral shades of grey that any war inevitably paints. However, as Crowe’s character, and the opening W. H. Auden quote, point out, nobody is innocent. But we already knew this. The war on terror seems never-ending, but do we need to be reminded?
The political machinations of the plot are enough to keep your attention, despite the middle act lagging slightly. The romantic angle however seems contrived, simply a way to include the token female character. Nevertheless Golshifteh Farahani does well with the little she is given.
The action sequences are first-rate, as one would expect from Ridley Scott, and the camera doesn’t shy away from the brutality of war. But it’s the performances from the two leads that lift this above the average ‘war-on-terror’ film. Don’t worry if you can’t follow the plot, the acting should suffice.
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