Terrorism is not a light subject by any means, and as widespread a concept as it seems, it is not something properly understood by many people. "Body of Lies" does an admirable job of displaying the realistic and shocking consequences of terrorism for everyone involved. The story follows Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio), a CIA agent who is attempting to track down a very important terrorist in Jordan. He follows orders from his boss Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe), a manipulative CIA executive who unlike Ferris believes the ends justify the means.
While the topic of terrorism remains compelling, the execution of the story is nothing original. It is reminiscent of the superior "Spy Games" with Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. Director Ridley Scott is attempting to shed light on Islam in a realistic fashion. He manages to accomplish this goal to a limited extent. The problem is that certain aspects of the film such as the action sequences, dialogue and the torture sequences have all been done before in other quality films.
What elevates this film, making it immensely watchable, are the performances. DiCaprio brings his A-game adeptly portraying Ferris as a CIA operative torn between his duty to his country and his moral fiber. He also has great chemistry with Crowe producing a somewhat strained big brother/ little brother relationship. Crowe gained 62 pounds for his role as Hoffman, the headset wearing, over-the-hill pseudo family man/power hungry CIA boss.
All those attributes are effortlessly made plausible by Crowe. Not many bad things can ever be said about Crowe, an expert at his craft, and his commitment to the role of Hoffman is apparent down to his over-usage of the name "buddy" when referring to DiCaprio's character. Another quality performance (surprisingly so) was given by Mark Strong as Hani Salaam, a Jordanian Intelligence executive. He had the perfect balance of humanity and dominance while exuding a strong sense of stature as well.
Ultimately, "Body of Lies" is a straight-forward espionage film that results in an above-average experience thanks to the direction of Scott and strong performance from his A-list actors. Film makers are sometimes too timid to tackle themes of terrorism (especially in relation to Islam) because of possible controversial consequences. It will be interesting to see the result when Hollywood decides to truly explore the implications of terrorism. Until then, we can make do with "Body of Lies."
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