Movie Review: Body of Lies (2008)

Body of Lies, directed by Ridley Scott, and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe among others, is the latest spy movie to hit my DVD player. I’m not even going to try to give a summary of the movie because, quite frankly, I don’t really know what the f*ck happened in that movie and it would be too boring for you, the reader, to even matter yourself with that.

Don’t get me wrong, Body of Lies was quite entertaining, extremely well acted, had some decent plot line to follow, and even better, had some moral complexity and relevance to it. The only thing that bothered me was that the movie was very complex, too complex for a single viewing. Problem is you don’t really want to see that movie a second time. Abundance of layers and runners make for a rich movie, but this is not a movie entertaining enough for the average movie viewer to explore in detail

The cast is brilliant. I’ve never been a huge fan of Leonardo DiCaprio even though he has been solid over the years, but he did a lot to change my mind in this movie. Russell Crowe is playing a thankless role and doesn’t have much to show for it but he does it effectively. The rest of the cast, down to the most insignificant side character is top notch.

Finally, worthy of a Ridley Scott movie, the cinematography is gorgeous. Great shots, stunning locations and sets. In all, solid movie but nothing great or flashy enough to warrant any lasting impression.

B-: Good movie but unmemorable