BODY OF LIES (2008)

An Effective Thriller that Falls Short of Its Full Potential

Grade: B+

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Movies centered on serious, real-life events can force viewers to confront not only the grim reality of the situation, but also to explore the moral gray areas faced by the people who are involved. In Body of Lies, directed by Ridley Scott, the event in question is the War on Terror. Filled with great performances and intriguing story elements, the film unfortunately does not quite transcend being an exciting and well-made thriller. This is thanks in large part to the cliches it resorts to in the final act.

Body of Lies tells the story of a search for an Islamic terrorist named Al-Saleem, whose followers have been carrying out bombings throughout Europe. The search is spearheaded by a CIA field officer named Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio), who joins forces with Hani Salaam (Mark Strong), the director of the Jordanian General Intelligence Directorate, to observe a safe house in Balad, Iraq that Al-Saleem’s followers are living in. Ferris is exasperated by the involvement and uncompromising behavior of his superior, Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe), whose interference ultimately leads to the failure of the operation. Back in Washington, Ferris and Hoffman concoct a plan to fabricate a new terrorist organization that will stage fake attacks in the hope that it will bring Al-Saleem forward so the CIA can finally catch him.

The first two thirds of Body of Lies feature some great insights into the War on Terror as well as relationships between international agencies who have a common goal. Ferris is willing to work with Salaam on his terms, but Hoffman wants greater involvement and information on the mission. There are also several on-screen casualties of war. Early on, a terrorist named Nizar wants to defect to the United States and agrees to give information to Ferris and his partner Bassam (Oscar Isaac) but is captured by his colleagues and Ferris is forced to shoot him to keep him from revealing his and Bassam’s identities. Later, when Ferris hatches his plan to draw out Al-Saleem, he uses a low-profile Al-Qaeda contact named Omar Sadiki as the unwitting “leader” of his fake terrorist group, resulting in his capture, interrogation, and execution by Al-Saleem’s group.

One of the things I find most fascinating about Body of Lies is the contrast between Ferris and Hoffman. Although he is surrounded by death every day, Ferris is an idealist, willing to work with others and caring about the people he comes across who are put in danger. When he is interacting with Hoffman, however, he is aggressively angry, spouting profanity and insults in his direction. On the flipside, Hoffman is all about results, little caring about the casualties of the war except as a means of furthering the CIA’s agenda. He refuses to allow Ferris and Hoffman to shelter Nizar, instead insisting that they turn him loose. Later, after Bassam is killed by terrorists in a thrilling action scene, Hoffman dismisses Ferris’s concerns for Bassam’s family’s welfare and sends him to Balad to observe the safe house. Ferris cares about the innocent, but Hoffman maintains that there are no innocents in the war.

The movie stumbles in its third act after Al-Saleem kills Sadiki and sets his sights on Ferris. The story first resorts to one of the biggest cliches in cinema history-kidnapping the hero’s love interest to get to him-as Aisha, a local nurse who Ferris has fallen for, is captured by one of Al-Saleem’s men. Director Scott cleverly flips this formula when it is revealed at the end that this man is actually working on the inside for Salaam, and Aisha was released later without being harmed. Nevertheless, her disappearance leads the story down a rather predictable path as Ferris is taken to Al-Saleem’s hideout where the two enemies engage in a rather formulaic back-and-forth conversation, imposing their views on the other. This leads to the standard villain-leaving-the-room-so-his-minions-could-kill-the-hero cliché, which in turn is followed by a daring rescue where Salaam’s agents storm the hideout and rescue Ferris at the very last second. All these plot elements have been done many times before, and they do not belong in a serious, down-to-earth drama about the War on Terror. These cliches held the movie back from being something truly special.

Body of Lies is a very well-made movie, sporting a compelling story and two interesting central characters. The violence and action are intense, and the themes are intriguing. But the third act was too formulaic. If the screenwriter had dispensed with the cliches, Body of Lies could have been even more effective.

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Director: Ridley Scott

Producers: Ridley Scott, Donald De Line

Screenplay: William Monahan (Based on the novel by David Ignatius)

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio (Roger Ferris), Russell Crowe (Ed Hoffman), Mark Strong (Hani Salaam), Golshifteh Farahani (Aisha), Oscar Isaac (Basaam), Ali Suliman (Omar Sadiki), Alon Abutbul (Al-Saleem)

Rated: R (for strong violence including some torture, and for language throughout)