Dr. Venkman Reviews: Body of Lies

Body of Lies was a great movie for that type of international terrorist action drama genre. If you like those kinds of films then ‘Body of Lies' is your wet dream. For the most part I like these kinds of movies and I was really looking forward to seeing this film. I find these kinds of films interesting to watch but at the same time it isn't a fun watch. You are forced to think in these types of movies so if your not into thinking while watching a film Body of Lies may not be for you.

You really have to pay attention while watching this movie because there is so much going on and so many different characters to follow. It could be hard for some people to follow along that aren't used to these kinds of films. This is a fairly complicated movie.



Set aside the complication of the story the movie was very good. It didn't blow me away though. In fact I could have waited to see it on DVD, I may have enjoyed it more because people in the theater kept asking questions about what was going on? Who was with who? Who's the good guy and bad guy? It kind of annoyed me.

The film is about a CIA covert operative named Roger Ferris (DiCaprio) who is looking for terrorists in Jordan who have been bombing civilian targets. Roger uncovers some valuable information on the man behind the bombings, so Roger comes up with a plan to infiltrate the terrorist network of assholes. The man leading these operations back in America is name Ed Hoffman (Crowe), he is looking over Rogers shoulder guiding him and watching his back as all this is going down. During this operation they enlist the help of several different people that they don't know if they can trust or not. Such is the life of a CIA operative. Everyone is trying to work together to bring down the head of this terrorist group.



The acting in this movie is fantastic. Leonardo DiCaprio gave a great performance. He is one hell of a talented actor and he constantly pushing himself. He is really intense in this film. He played his character Roger so well. He is a field operative and is kind of a grunt who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty. At the same time even with his hick accent, which kind of throws you off, he is smart as hell and not afraid to stand up to people. If you are not a big fan of Leonardo DiCaprio you get to see him tortured if that's any incentive to go watch the movie. Russell Crowe was also amazing I honestly didn't like this character because he was pretty much a dick. It's like he cared, but at the same time he didn't give a shit what happened. You would think he is supposed be smart, but to me he came off as a dumbass.

Body of Lies was directed by Ridley Scott, and he did a great job directing this movie. I really like his directing style he knows how to move things along very artfully. He does his best not to loose the audience in the story and its many twists and turns but some people may not be able to keep up. I only say that because lots of people in the movie theater were talking about how they didn't get it.



If you are a fan of the actors or director then you should probably go to see this movie to show your support. You wont be disappointed in this film. At the same time if you are on the fence it's ok to wait for it to come out on DVD. It is not a must see right now type film. It really depends on what you are in the mood to see. The film gets anti war preachy at the end, but that's expected.

"Nobody's innocent in this shit."

Whatever you decide to see always remember to enjoy your time at the movies!

 

-Dr. Venkman