Ridley Scott’s Body of Lies talks like an intimate
character-study set amidst contemporary U.S.-Middle East
geopolitics, walks like a loud and explosive action-film, and
ends up mastering neither genre nor a combination thereof. It
feels like the talent involved couldn’t decide whether they
wanted to make Syriana, Rambo, or The Kingdom
and what resulted was a vat of emptiness. Body of Nothing
is more like it.
In all fairness, I’m sure that
Washington Post writer David Ignatius’ source novel was
probably a good one. The problem with the film-adaptation isn’t
that the characters or the plot are intrinsically bad, it’s that
the film can’t decide how to balance and portray them. The
set-up for Body of Lies is interesting enough: Roger
Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a CIA operative who, working with
Langley handler Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe), develops a creative
plan to catcha Jordan-based terrorist-leader responsible for a
slew of attacks named Al-Saleem (Alon Abutbol). Ferris will make
up a rival terrorist organization with its own fictitious
leader, bringing Al-Saleem out of hiding because he will see a
need to respond to someone stealing his thunder.
Even with a great director, two
great actors, and a sturdy premise written by an Oscar-winner (The
Departed’s William Monahan), Body of Lies fails to
conjure up much of the viewer’s interest. The plot moves in the
opposite manner than that expected from a Scott film: Ferris and
Hoffman decide what they’re going to do and they do it. Gone are
the tricks, twists, and nuances that distinguish the director’s
best works in the thriller genre. Outside of the central
fabrication that Ferris and Hoffman concoct to capture Al-Saleem—this
admittedly makes for the most engrossing passage of the film
when it’s first introduced—there really isn’t much deception
taking place here, contrary to what the title promises. Again, I
return to the idea that the movie wants to be two entirely
separate things and in the process avoids both. The material
might have felt aptly deceitful if it had offered the thoughtful
introspection its contemplative and quiet tone suggests, but
it’s too caught up in matters of plot to do so. Only trouble is:
the plot in turn is limited by said tone, meaning the film is
rarely allowed to get the viewer riled up. The action in seems
more obligatory to what’s keeping the story moving than does
captivating and edgy.
And the performances – what wastes
of phenomenal thespians. In the lead role, DiCaprio could’ve
been replaced by just about any other competent actor; the
requirements for his role are that he fit the profile of a
working CIA operative and capture a certain amount of anxious
energy when scheming Ferris’ central-plan. He does so fine, but
this lends to a performance that is as blasé as the character.
Crowe is put in an even worse predicament, spending his small
amount of screen-time on the phone with DiCaprio, literally
“phoning it in” as Variety’s Todd McCarthy quips in his review.
Apparently, Scott had Crowe gain fifty pounds to better look the
part of his character, a droll Southern cynic of a handler,
which makes one wonder if Scott’s vision was at all translated
to the screen. Crowe plays such a stock-seeming character that
it’s hard to believe that Scott thought a major physical change
to be vital to the film’s representation of Hoffman.
Body of Lies comes less than
a year after the release of a much better Scott-Crowe
collaboration, American Gangster. One wonders if Scott
had enough time to prepare for this film after finishing that
one. Given the can’t-miss reputation of the cast and crew behind
Body of Lies, this seems like the only rational
explanation for the picture’s failure. Now, all one can do is
put this mediocre dent in the usually-masterful filmmaker’s
resume out of mind—believe me, it’ll fade from memory
quickly—and hope that his next effort (which also stars Crowe),
Nottingham, represents a return-to-form.
-Danny Baldwin, Bucket Reviews
Review Published on: 10.9.2008
Screened on: 10.6.2008 at the AMC Burbank 16 in Burbank,
CA.
