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PAGE 12, OCTOBER 20, 2008, THE ISLANDER
“Goin* to
the Show...
♦♦
with...
Roland
Willis
BODY OF LIES
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe,
Mark Strong & Golshifteh Farahani
Directed by Ridley Scott
Written by William Monahan
Based on a novel by David Ignatius
Running Time: 2 hours, 18 minutes
Rated R - Violence and torture
No, this is not about the attack
ads which have graced the current
presidential campaign; it is about the
mountain of lies that have to be told by
our intelligence agencies as they hunt
down vicious Islamic terrorists.
With a screenplay by William
Monahan (The Departed) based upon
the novel by the Washington Post col
umnist, David Ignatius, and directed
by the legendary director, Ridley Scott
(Thelma and Louise, Alien, Bladerun-
ner), and starring two of the best actors
around, Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell
Crowe, Body of Lies promises much.
The movie is about the attempts to
catch a really bad Jihadist, Al-Saleem
(Alon Abutol) who is behind wanton
bombings throughout Europe.
He survives detection because he
has moved away from sophisticated
communication technology which can
be monitored, and communicates with
his accomplices by word of mouth and
hand-written notes in code.
Leonardo DiCaprio plays Roger Fer
ris, a field operative for the CIA in Arab
countries much like George Clooney’s
character in Syriana.
Ferris speaks fluent Arabic but
doesn’t exactly disappear into the local
population; a blind man could spot him
when he is out on surveillance.
As the movie starts, he is plucked
from his assignment in Iraq by his
supervisor back in Washington, Ed
Hoffman (Russell Crowe), and sent
to Aman, Jordan where the CIA has
caught wind of a safe-house used by
Al-Saleem’s followers.
Ferris is smart enough to know that
he can’t operate effectively without the
cooperation of the Jordanian secret ser
vice and its head, Hani (Mark Strong).
Now Hani is coolly efficient and
nothing stirs in Jordan without his
knowledge. He believes that torture
is a waste of time for gathering intel
ligence but sees nothing wrong with
severe corporal punishment for disci
plinary purposes.
He immediately likes Ferris and will
cooperate but there must be honesty
between them.
“Don’t ever he to me,” he threatens.
Of course, this is like asking a dog
not to bark; Ferris’ entire life is based
upon lies.
He is compromised when his boss
back in Washington decides to do an
end-run around Hani.
The tension eases for a while when
Ferris falls for a beautiful Iranian refu
gee, Aisha (Golshifteh Farahani), who
is now working as a nurse, and has to
follow the family courtship rules.
Inevitably, Aisha becomes a pawn in
his dealings with Hani.
Ridley Scott is a remarkable director
in that he is so versatile. He has direct
ed a wide variety of films including sci-
fi action (Alien), sci-fi whimsy (Blade
Runner), horror (Hannibal), action
(Gladiator), war (Black Hawk Down),
historical (Kingdom of Heaven), gang
ster (American Gangster), romance (A
Good Year), sailing adventure (White
Squall) and even a road film (Thelma
and Louise).
This is his first attempt at an anti
terrorist film set in the Middle East.
Unfortunately it is not nearly as good
as Stephen Gaghan’s Syriana which
covered many of the same themes.
The failure really rests with the Rus
sell Crowe character, Ferris’ boss Ed
Hoffman. This character is a suburban
dad conducting terrorist warfare on his
cell phone while making breakfast for
his kids, ferrying them to school and
attending sporting events.
Crowe can’t quite seem to decide
which accent to use and his flippant
attitude destroys the seriousness of the
plot.
Catching him on the phone, his wife
asks, “Whatcha doing, honey?”
“Oh, just saving the free world.”
This is a disappointing performance
from Crowe who entertained us so
well with L. A. Confidential, Gladiator,
Master and Commander and Cinder
ella Man.
DiCaprio (Titanic, Gangs of New
York, The Aviator, The Departed and
Blood Diamond) is great as always.
Surprisingly, Mark Strong’s portray
al of the coolly efficient and very Arabic
head of the Jordanian secret service,
Hani, steals the show.
Strong has been getting a lot of
screen time in recent years and has
starred in Tristan and Isolde, Syriana,
Babylon A. D., Stardust and Sunshine.
His performance in this movie is bound
to attract attention.
Overall, I was disappointed with
this film perhaps because my expecta
tions were so high.
However, it is worth a viewing and I
will definitely watch it again.
My rating is B. □
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