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Reviews Counted:188
Fresh:96
Rotten:92
Average Rating:5.7/10
Consensus: Body of Lies relies on the performances of Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio to elevate it beyond the conventional espionage thriller.
Theatrical Release:Oct 10, 2008 Wide
Box Office: $39,380,442
Synopsis: Leonardo DiCaprio fights terrorists for the CIA in this rapid-fire thriller from director Ridley Scott (GLADIATOR, BLACK HAWK DOWN). While Roger Ferris (DiCaprio) gets his hands dirty on the... [More]
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong, Golshifteh Farahani
Director: Ridley Scott
Art may be imitating life, but it sure makes for dull movies. Body of Lies is the latest example of what a crutch this has become -- show grainy satellite images, cut to a chase in a crowded bazaar, discuss 'intel'. Repeat.
Unfortunately, we've seen variations on this story a dozen times.
An apocalyptic vision of cloak-and-dagger intelligence, Lies is like a suicide note written by Tom Clancy, but the movie's gloomy inaccessibility actually makes it all the more intriguing.
Body of Lies has its share of exciting moments -- Scott remains a master at directing physical action -- and it certainly couldn't be more timely. But it's also a safe and predictable movie about a subject that is neither.
As the film's episodic story gradually reveals itself, it ends up too unconvincing and conventional to consistently hold our attention.
Top CriticA well-crafted but curiously generic spy thriller that, for its final hour at least, comes off as formulaic as its title.
A stumbling block for myself as a big, fat American who doesn't understand all the nuances of Middle Eastern politics is that the movie was often hard to follow.
Even if Body of Lies lacks a huge emotional wallop, it dishes plenty of food for thought.
Given the giga-talent involved -- virtuoso visualist Scott, The Departed's William Monahan adapting Washington Post columnist David Ignatius's novel -- I was hoping for something more substantive than Syriana-meets-Spy Game.
On this basic premise builds a complicated story plied with onion layers of perspective and cunning.
Russell Crowe's portrayal of an overweight, amoral CIA honcho in the Middle East thriller Body of Lies is mesmerizing, chilling, disturbing to the bone and one of the best performances of the year.
Body of Lies is an A-list project with B-game results.
High production value and solid performances lay enough of a spit shine on an otherwise dingy pile of drivel.
As a movie seeking to tell a story, Body of Lies is a confused jumble.
This is a little too slick and commanding for its own good; despite Crowe and DiCaprio's best efforts, their characters keep getting flattened by the steamroller narrative.
[Ridley Scott] has few peers at keeping a complex script clear and tightly focused...
The movie is an urgent current-events thriller that falls somewhere between Syriana and the Bourne movies.
DiCaprio helps turn what could have been a dry-as-sand Middle Eastern thriller into a compelling suspense film that questions the ethics of espionage and counterterrorism without turning sanctimonious or screedlike.
DiCaprio and Crowe, who both deliver excellent performances, may nevertheless be overshadowed by the outstanding turn by British actor Strong.
Both complicated and compelling, Body of Lies offers an audacious glimpse at the hypocrisy and religious furor fueling a struggle most Americans recognize only as a political catch phrase -- a 'war on terror.'
February 16, 2009:
RT on DVD: High School Musical 3 or Midnight Meat Train?
It's a good week for mediocre films (Body of Lies, Changeling, Quarantine and Flash of Genius, which all walk a fine line between Fresh and Rotten) and an even better one if... More...
February 15, 2009:
The macho swagger of these US espionage interlopers around the planet has all the finesse of a wrestling ring, while imperialism is made to come off as really sexy. Body Of Lies: An Amman Gangster. 
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February 08, 2009:
The macho swagger of these US espionage interlopers around the planet has all the finesse of a wrestling ring, while imperialism is made to come off as really sexy. Body Of Lies: An Amman Gangster.
More...
November 21, 2008:
UK Critics Consensus: Does Ridley Scott’s Body Of Lies Ring True? Is Blindness Blinding Or Bland?
It's a varied pick of films in the UK cinemas this week; we have Sir Ridley Scott's latest collaboration with Russell Crowe, the CIA thriller, Body Of Lies. Julianne Moore and... More...
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