Perhaps Scott’s ever-restless shooting style doesn’t quite differentiate between the peaks and troughs of the narrative, yet it’s still an engrossing account of the intersection between process and ethics.
Comment
11/21/08
Body of Lies (2008)
51
%
Tomatometer
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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:21-11-2008
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
Reviews for Body of Lies
Top CriticLike Syriana without either the balls or the brains, Body Of Lies is perfectly presentable. You just expect better from the likes of Leo, Russ and Ridley.
11/21/08
Top CriticBut despite the immaculate production values, the satire is so unspeakably crude that it ceases to matter. A shame. Scott has been an instrumental director in the Hollywood evolution of war films. But Body of Lies is a one-note rant.
11/21/08
Top CriticBody of Lies is big and bombastic, confused and irritable - a 20th-century blockbuster struggling to adapt (too little, too late) to a 21st-century terrain.
11/21/08
Top CriticScott, at heart, is a pyrotechnician rather than a political philosopher. Sometimes, during the scenes when he shows graphic acts of torture, he seems like a two-penny shock merchant, too.
11/21/08
Top CriticWith high-class acts to match the hi-tech savvy of Scott and his trusty crew (cinematographer Alexander Witt, editor Pietro Scalia, composer Mark Streitenfeld), this is as taut and engrossing a couple of hours as you’ll experience all year.
11/21/08
Syriana, this ain’t. Ridley Scott’s latest misses the scope, texture or depth to dig into the moral mess of the war on terror. But this entertaining techno-thriller feeds greedily off star performances from Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Strong.
11/21/08
Body Of Lies lacks the epic sweep of Gladiator and the emotional pull of Thelma And Louise. But it's enormously competent, with a couple of fine supporting performances from Crowe and Strong.
11/21/08
If the starry but soulless crime flick American Gangster wasn’t enough to convince you Ridley Scott was a man past his prime, check out Body Of Lies – a starry but soulless terrorism movie.
11/21/08
For all the enthralling visuals and action, the film feels garbled.
11/21/08
Top CriticVisually the film is so undistinguished it may be time for the maker of Blade Runner to be subjected to that film’s Voigt-Kampff test, to determine whether the current owner of the name “Ridley Scott” is real or a replicant.
11/21/08
But it's something of a penance to sit through, a token handwringing over American dirty tricks that's just another opportunity for Scott and co to blow stuff up.
11/21/08
Body of Lies can’t quite make up its mind whether to be an all-out thriller or a savvy political drama with something relevant to say about Muslim fundamentalism and the American response to it.
11/21/08
While this film's themes seem to address issues of terrorism and CIA meddling, and the powerful cast suggests we're in Important Movie territory, the result is essentially just a routine spy thriller: entertaining but forgettable.
11/21/08
Over-directed, frequently dull and ultimately disappointing thriller that wastes the talents of its two leads and strands them with a tedious script that somehow manages to be both confusing and overly simplistic.
11/20/08
Ridley Scott does not reflect on causes, only on operations. Body Of Lies may engage the warrior techno-geeks, but its amorality is uninvolving.
11/20/08
More gripping to watch in the moment than enjoyable to recall at its end.
10/18/08
Visually, the film is quite striking. Few modern filmmakers handle desert landscapes as well as Mr. Scott.
08/30/09
Short on thrills and shorter on political insights
08/26/09
A certain rawness and despairing urgency is never quite achieved for the message the film wants to deliver, and so it remains a well-intentioned, well-produced, yet generally unmemorable entertainment.
03/31/09
Latest News for Body of Lies
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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