6th November, 2008

DAVID ADAMS

Body of Lies (MA15+)

In A Word: Machiavellian

A gritty thriller showing the dark side of international espionage, Body of Lies centres CIA operative Roger Ferris (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and his relationship with his handler, Ed Hoffman (played by a chunked-up Russell Crowe) as they work - apparently together - to try and put an end to a series of bombings in Europe.

Directed by Ridley Scott (Black Hawk Down), the film finds Ferris originally in Iraq where he is trying to track down information on the bombings, a move which leads to a serious injury. He flies on to Jordan where he allies with local intelligence chief Hani Salaam (Mark Strong) in his bid to track down the terrorists responsible for the bombings.

As the film’s title suggests, Ferris finds himself caught up in an increasingly complex layer of deceptions which in the end only feed his disillusionment for the tasks he’s asked to complete and for the motives of those he serves.

Based on a novel by Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, Body of Lies draws on the constant juxtaposition of the two main characters - who always seem to have mobile phones handy - to underline the contrast between Ferris’ frenetic life in the hot, dirty Middle East and Hoffman’s surburban existence back in the US - an apparently mundane life which involves watching his kids play sport while at the same time directing operations half a world away.

There's a sense here of an imbalance in the cost of the CIA's activities and Body of Lies poses some important questions about the fight against terrorism without necessarily providing any answers.

The film is well-shot, with plenty of action and the actors put in strong performances without making them exceptional but in the end there’s nothing terribly new or startling here, just a graphic reminder of the dark truths which hover behind today’s newspaper headlines.

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