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.
Comment
11/26/08
Body of Lies (2008)
51
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:188
Fresh:96
Rotten:92
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 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... [More]
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong, Golshifteh Farahani
Director: Ridley Scott
Reviews for Body of Lies
21 - 40 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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.
11/21/08
Like Syriana without either the balls or the brains, Body Of Lies is perfectly presentable. You just expect better from the likes of Leo, Russ and Ridley.
11/21/08
But despite the immaculate production values, the satire is so unspeakably crude that it ceases to matter. A shame. Scott has been an instrumental director in the Hollywood evolution of war films. But Body of Lies is a one-note rant.
11/21/08
Top CriticBody of Lies is big and bombastic, confused and irritable - a 20th-century blockbuster struggling to adapt (too little, too late) to a 21st-century terrain.
11/21/08
Top CriticScott, at heart, is a pyrotechnician rather than a political philosopher. Sometimes, during the scenes when he shows graphic acts of torture, he seems like a two-penny shock merchant, too.
11/21/08
With high-class acts to match the hi-tech savvy of Scott and his trusty crew (cinematographer Alexander Witt, editor Pietro Scalia, composer Mark Streitenfeld), this is as taut and engrossing a couple of hours as you’ll experience all year.
11/21/08
Syriana, this ain’t. Ridley Scott’s latest misses the scope, texture or depth to dig into the moral mess of the war on terror. But this entertaining techno-thriller feeds greedily off star performances from Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Strong.
11/21/08
Body Of Lies lacks the epic sweep of Gladiator and the emotional pull of Thelma And Louise. But it's enormously competent, with a couple of fine supporting performances from Crowe and Strong.
11/21/08
If the starry but soulless crime flick American Gangster wasn’t enough to convince you Ridley Scott was a man past his prime, check out Body Of Lies – a starry but soulless terrorism movie.
11/21/08
For all the enthralling visuals and action, the film feels garbled.
11/21/08
Top CriticVisually the film is so undistinguished it may be time for the maker of Blade Runner to be subjected to that film’s Voigt-Kampff test, to determine whether the current owner of the name “Ridley Scott” is real or a replicant.
11/21/08
But it's something of a penance to sit through, a token handwringing over American dirty tricks that's just another opportunity for Scott and co to blow stuff up.
11/21/08
Body of Lies can’t quite make up its mind whether to be an all-out thriller or a savvy political drama with something relevant to say about Muslim fundamentalism and the American response to it.
11/21/08
While this film's themes seem to address issues of terrorism and CIA meddling, and the powerful cast suggests we're in Important Movie territory, the result is essentially just a routine spy thriller: entertaining but forgettable.
11/21/08
Over-directed, frequently dull and ultimately disappointing thriller that wastes the talents of its two leads and strands them with a tedious script that somehow manages to be both confusing and overly simplistic.
11/20/08
Ridley Scott does not reflect on causes, only on operations. Body Of Lies may engage the warrior techno-geeks, but its amorality is uninvolving.
11/20/08
Body of Lies proves as generic as its title.
11/12/08
Good solid far-fetched multiplex action-adventure fare in the Bondian mode, with awe-inspiring technology and just enough moral philosophizing laced through it to give the mind a little something to chew on.
11/10/08
Just because it's really dense and layered doesn’t mean it’s good.
11/10/08
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. 
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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.
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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