Body of Lies (Widescreen) (2008)

USA Today
"BODY OF LIES is a tautly paced, well-acted espionage thriller with the requisite explosions and action sequences....[With] powerful performances by Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Strong and Russell Crowe..." 10/12/2008

Total Film
3 stars out of 5 -- "With every minute that passes in Ridley Scott's talky political thriller, DiCaprio swells to fit the role, forced to bring his A-game by two heavyweight co-stars." 12/01/2008 p.50

Premiere
3 stars out of 4 -- "DiCaprio and Crowe are as solid as ever, but the cast standout is Mark Strong....[The plot] is fast and interesting enough to keep you thoroughly engaged." 02/17/2009

Entertainment Weekly
"[A] cat-and-mouse CIA thriller....Scott pulls off some tense action sequences..." 02/20/2009

Chicago Sun-Times 8 of 10
If you take a step back from the realistic locations and terse dialogue, Ridley Scott's "Body of Lies" is a James Bond plot inserted into today's headlines. The film wants to be persuasive in its expertise about modern spycraft, terrorism, the CIA and Middle East politics. But its hero is a lone ranger who operates in three countries, single-handedly creates a fictitious terrorist organization, and survives explosions, gunfights, and brutal torture. Oh, and he falls in love with a local beauty. And of course he speaks Arabic well enough to pass for a local...The acting is convincing. DiCaprio makes Ferris almost believable in the midst of absurdities; the screenplay by William Monahan, based on the novel by David Ignatius, portrays him as a man who grows to reject the Iraq war and the role of the CIA in it. Crowe, who gained 50 pounds for his part (always dangerous for a beer drinker), is a remorselessly logical CIA operative. I particularly admired the work of Mark Strong as the suave Jordanian intelligence chief, who likes little cigars, shady nightclubs and pretty women, but is absolutely in command of his job...The bottom line: "Body of Lies" contains enough you can believe, or almost believe, that you wish so much of it weren't sensationally implausible. No one man can withstand such physical ordeals as Ferris undergoes in this film, and I didn't even mention the attack by a pack of possibly rabid dogs. Increasing numbers of thrillers seem to center on heroes who are masochists surrounded by sadists, and I'm growing weary of the horror! Oh, the horror! - Roger Ebert
 
Reel.com 6 of 10
No matter the degrees of talent, filmmakers will always have difficulty overcoming a flawed script, and William Monahan's Body of Lies screenplay is broken beyond the point of repair. A bewildering mishmash of double-crosses, cover-ups, and cliches, Monahan's treatment unfortunately undermines some terrific performances and a solid effort by director Ridley Scott...Monahan has penned a land mine of confusion that blows this thriller to smithereens. Allies shift, rules constantly change, covers are blown, and safe houses are exposed. DiCaprio barks at Crowe for "interfering" in his mission, though we're often unclear what the mission was, how Crowe disrupted it, or even why he prevented Leo from accomplishing said goal. The only truthful thing I can tell you is that I never understood exactly what was happening, to whom it was happening, or even why...At least some came here to play. Lies features great work by director of photography Alexander Witt (American Gangster, Casino Royale), who peers through surveillance cameras and climbs to satellite-level heights to scan the arid deserts of Jordan (really Morocco). DiCaprio and Crowe are excellent, though each do completely different things for the good of the film. It's a beautiful sight seeing Crowe pack on pounds and hunch his dominant frame to portray a good-old-boy bureaucrat. Both megastars are upstaged by Strong, however. His Middle Eastern mafioso is silky smooth, intense, intelligent, and deadly. Look for him in an equally intimidating role as part of Guy Ritchie's cracking crime caper RockNRolla. - Sean O'Connell