body of lies - ridley scott

body of lies. a 2008 production. an action drama cum thriller directed by ridley scott. i would not miss any movies which starred russel crowe and leonardo decaprio. so this was one of the first ones i watched from the whole lot.

based on david ignatius' novel, roger ferris (caprio) is a covert cia operative working in jordan who is tracking a high ranking terrorist called al saleem who, with his group is targeting and bombing civilians. ed hoffman (crowe) is ferris' boss who is communicating with him from langley. ferris uncovers information on al saleem and devises a plan with the help of jordanian intelligence hani salaam (mark strong) to infiltrate the terrorist network, both men are weary about trusting each other. ferris meanwhile meets aisha, an iranian actress (golshifteh farahani), a nurse who he falls in love with. hoffman betrays ferris by not telling him the entire truth, which compels ferris to act on his own, again with the help of salaam.

a technically well crafted spy thriller with pretty exciting and well staged action, intricately woven with a splash of love story in it. crowe puts on weight to be in this film, and gives and adequate performance in a seemingly undemanding role for an actor of his caliber.

however, maybe because it was based on the book, it creates an experience now too familiar. this film addresses the issue of terrorism (another post 9/11 film) with the cia meddling, with very ordinary spy thriller genre conventions.

even though it is not boring, as i personally think no movies should be, and on the contrary, is exciting as we are trying to figure out who is on whose side, i would say it is still, not unforgettable. there are certain movies that stay in your mind, no matter how many years pass by, frankly if i allow another week to pass, i wont even remember what this was about.

body of lies doesnt really strike a few nerves and the despairing urgency is not quite achieved in this film but overall, i found it pretty much engaging and entertaining. and i am sure anyone else would too...