Thursday, October 16, 2008

Body of Lies

by Michael

Leonardo DiCaprio awakens on an operating table to find bone fragments of someone else embedded in his skin.  Such an image could serve as an apt metaphor for Ridley Scott’s Body of Lies, a riveting CIA thriller in which it always the other guy being blown apart. Indeed, Scott flinches on no display of brutality in this tale of one Agent Ferris(DiCaprio), a seasoned agent caught in the endless  parade bombings, kidnapping, and various methods of torture that comprise the modern terrorist MO. But witnessing the torture conducted by the other men in his field, including the distinguished head of Jordanian security Hani Saleem( Mark Strong), he begins to doubt his mission.

Now, I’m sure you ‘ve all seen the trailers:  the shooting, the screaming, but what they left out was how funny the film was. Part of it is the crackling dialogue of William Monahan(The Departed), but the rest is Russell Crowe, who delivers his best performance in years, as Ed Hoffman, the overweight, bureaucrat handler of Ferris. Imagine, if you will, being a CIA agent on a operation in the Iraqi desert.  Then imagine having to take orders from a guy who is not only stateside, but every bit as buffoonish and inept as the bosses in either incarnation of the The Office. But yet, like Ricky Gervais, Crowe does the near impossible: he makes the bastard likeable.  

Monahan, a professed admirer of Robert Bolt, does his hero justice by creating a fascinating, respectful bond between Saleem and Ferris, not unlike that of T.E. Lawrence (Peter O’ Toole) and Prince Feisal  (Alec Guinness) in Lawrence of Arabia. And like the great Guinness, fellow Brit Mark Strong (Sunshine, Rocknrolla) proves to be a silent pillar of charisma and true chameleon of the craft. Strong is still the reason to seek out Guy Ritchie’s much-maligned Revolver. His performance as the hitman Sorter is one for the textbooks.

In the end, some may be put off by the film’s love story, but it just furthers the notion that, Ferris, in dating an Iranian woman, is just in another form of “out of his depth”.  DiCaprio sells the romance with same fervor and conviction he that employs as Ferris gets nearly blown up, shot at, and kicked around. The man has grit in his veins.

Lastly, the greatest bow should come from Ridley Scott, who succeeds in exploiting the most barren of landscapes and imbuing them with dread. This film will sit proudly alongside his best.