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Movies / On DVD / Body of Lies
Body of Lies

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Body of Lies (2008)

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Reviews Counted: 184

Fresh: 93

Rotten:91

Average Rating: 5.7/10

Consensus: Body of Lies relies on the performances of Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio to elevate it beyond the conventional espionage thriller.

Australian Rating: MA15+ [See Full Rating] Strong violence

Runtime: 2 hrs 9 mins

Genre: Dramas

Australian Theatrical Release:
Oct 9, 2008 Wide

US Box Office: $39,380,442

Synopsis: Leonardo DiCaprio fights terrorists for the CIA in this rapid-fire thriller from director Ridley Scott (GLADIATOR, BLACK HAWK DOWN). While Roger Ferris (DiCaprio) gets his hands dirty on the... Leonardo DiCaprio fights terrorists for the CIA in this rapid-fire thriller from director Ridley Scott (GLADIATOR, BLACK HAWK DOWN). While Roger Ferris (DiCaprio) gets his hands dirty on the teeming Arab streets, his handler Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) watches from Washington via spy satellite, cheerfully giving bull-in-a-china-shop style orders while picking up his kids from school. Innocent lives are lost, buildings blow up, and the threat of winding up beheaded on the internet is always one move away. LIES is decked out from front to back with fascinating bits of Arabic and espionage minutiae as it races along its wild mission to track down an elusive terrorist sect leader. Crowe has fun in his portly Southern-accented INSIDER mode, while DiCaprio does his usual anguished moral suffering over the fate of individuals (To Crowe's Hoffman, it's all just part of war and nobody's innocent). As the suave head of Jordanian intelligence, Mark Strong gives a scene-stealing, cobra-like performance that clashes beautifully with Crowe's "ugly American" bullying. The beautiful Golshifteh Farahani plays the obligatory love interest, the nurse who treats Ferris's regularly occurring battle and torture wounds. When most action heroes are completely healed within minutes of every fight, it's refreshing--in a grisly sort of way--to see how Ferris's wounds bruises pile up. The solid, punchy script is by William Monahan (THE DEPARTED) from the David Ignatius novel. [More]

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong, Golshifteh Farahani

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong, Golshifteh Farahani, Oscar Isaac, Simon McBurney

Director: Ridley Scott

Director: Ridley Scott
Screenwriter: William Monahan
Producer: Donald DeLine, Ridley Scott
Composer: Marc Streitenfeld
Studio: Warner Bros.

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for Body of Lies

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
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Exciting enough while it's unfolding, but it lacks an original element and there aren't enough scenes where Crowe and DiCaprio are playing off each other.

Full Review Source: Courier Mail (Australia) | comment 1 Comment
10/17/08
Des Partridge
Courier Mail (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A respectable second-rank thriller -- intelligent but muddled, action-packed but thoughtful.

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
10/17/08
Paul Byrnes
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Body of Lies may not tell us anything we didn't already know about the way the US does business in the Middle East, but it's compelling nonetheless.

Full Review Source: The Australian | comment Comment
10/17/08
David Stratton
The Australian
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Despite the dog-eared set-ups and situations, Body of Lies also has a lot going for it.

Full Review Source: FILMINK (Australia) | comment Comment
10/10/08
Erin Free
FILMINK (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

By the end, Body Of Lies is revealed as just another big-budget movie designed to cash in on the real-enough Middle East conflicts. It's a gangster movie without cops and criminals.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph (Australia) | comment Comment
10/10/08
Des Partridge
Daily Telegraph (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Some show is made of plunging the viewer into a dense cloud of moral ambiguity, but this is mostly smoke and mirrors: while the American heroes may employ some dubious tactics, the justice of their cause is never in doubt.

Full Review Source: The Age (Australia) | comment 1 Comment
10/10/08
Jake Wilson
The Age (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The complex plot is rendered with clarity and precision, the action scenes are very well staged, the suspense is palpable, and the performances are first-rate.

Full Review Source: At the Movies (Australia) | comment Comment
10/10/08
David Stratton
At the Movies (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe fire up Ridley Scott's terrific political thriller, which might finally drag audiences to a flick about the War On Terror.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine Australasia | comment Comment
10/08/08
Ben McEachen
Empire Magazine Australasia
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Convincing and gripping, Body of Lies is at the epicentre of Ridley Scott's comfort zone as an action adventure with political overtones as well as some intimate human insights

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/04/08
Andrew L. Urban
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Lies and consequences form the heart of this bold, hard-hitting drama in which people are used as commodities, while Big Brother keeps a watchful eye -- both DiCaprio and Crowe inhabit their characters totally

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment 1 Comment
10/04/08
Louise Keller
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A certain rawness and despairing urgency is never quite achieved for the message the film wants to deliver, and so it remains a well-intentioned, well-produced, yet generally unmemorable entertainment.

Full Review Source: Window to the Movies | comment Comment
03/31/09
Jeffrey Chen
Window to the Movies
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment Comment
02/27/09
Chris Bumbray
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

For those of us who want movies to be about something and not just empty action with minimal shallow 'moral of the story' tacked on, Body of Lies is a disappointment.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
02/15/09
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

...better than a lot of the post 9/11 espionage films that Hollywood has made.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
02/12/09
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com

If you're going to have a mall-ready entertainment about the war on terror, you might as well have this one. [Blu-ray]

Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | comment Comment
02/11/09
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews

When Russell Crowe gives a lackluster performance, you know how meager a year it's been at the movies. In Body of Lies, Crowe is bogged down in a thankless role in a thankless movie.

Full Review Source: Fayetteville Free Weekly | comment Comment
02/01/09
Tony Macklin
Fayetteville Free Weekly

Básicamente un buen film de entretenimiento sobre un tema "serio" como el combate al terrorismo, armado de manera eficaz aunque superficial.

Full Review Source: Uruguay Total | comment Comment
12/15/08
Enrique Buchichio
Uruguay Total

Como diversão, Rede de Mentiras merece aplausos. Isto não impedirá, claro, que ele seja relegado ao esquecimento completo dentro de poucos anos.

Full Review Source: Cinema em Cena | comment Comment
11/28/08
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

Better than the vast majority of the post-9/11 terrorist yarns, Body of Lies is both more ambiguous and ambitious than such heavy-handed duds as Rendition and Redacted.

Full Review Source: Creative Loafing | comment Comment
11/26/08
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing

Perhaps Scott’s ever-restless shooting style doesn’t quite differentiate between the peaks and troughs of the narrative, yet it’s still an engrossing account of the intersection between process and ethics.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
11/21/08
Trevor Johnston
Time Out
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
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Latest News for Body of Lies

February 16, 2009: RT on DVD: High School Musical 3 or Midnight Meat Train?
It's a good week for mediocre films (Body of Lies, Changeling, Quarantine and Flash of Genius, which all walk a fine line between Fresh and Rotten) and an even better one if... More...

February 15, 2009: The macho swagger of these US espionage interlopers around the planet has all the finesse of a wrestling ring, while imperialism is made to come off as really sexy. Body Of Lies: An Amman Gangster. Opens in new window
More...

February 08, 2009: The macho swagger of these US espionage interlopers around the planet has all the finesse of a wrestling ring, while imperialism is made to come off as really sexy. Body Of Lies: An Amman Gangster. Opens in new window
More...

November 21, 2008: UK Critics Consensus: Does Ridley Scott’s Body Of Lies Ring True? Is Blindness Blinding Or Bland?
It's a varied pick of films in the UK cinemas this week; we have Sir Ridley Scott's latest collaboration with Russell Crowe, the CIA thriller, Body Of Lies. Julianne Moore and... More...

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