Body of Lies [WS]

Director: Ridley Scott Ridley Scott

Overview

Fresh off of their success with director Martin Scorsese's The Departed, star Leonardo DiCaprio and screenwriter William Monahan team with director Ridley Scott for this screen adaptation of David Ignatius' novel Body of Lies. When CIA operative Roger Ferris (DiCaprio) uncovers evidence indicating that a major terrorist leader may be operating out of Jordan, he enlists the aid of CIA veteran Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) in infiltrating the elusive saboteur's vast underground network. During the course of his dangerous mission, Ferris gradually comes to question how much he can trust his presumed allies -- who include not just Hoffman, but the outwardly helpful head of Jordanian intelligence as well.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/17/2009
UPC:	0085391189947
Original Release:	2008
Rating:	R
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:08:00
Sales rank:	5,868

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Leonardo DiCaprio	Actor
Russell Crowe	Actor
Mark Strong	Actor
Golshifteh Farahani	Actor
Oscar Isaac	Actor
Ali Suliman	Actor
Simon McBurney	Actor
Alon Aboutboul	Actor
Marc Streitenfeld	Composer
Vince Colosimo	Skip
Mehdi Nebbou	Nizar
Michael Gaston	Actor
Kais Nashif	Actor
Lubna Azabal	Actor
Jameel Khoury	Marwan,Bassam's Wife
Ghali Benlafkih	Aisha's Nephew Rowley
Giannina Facio	Hoffman's Wife
Youssef Srondy	Aisha's Nephew Yousef
Ali El Khalil	Zayed Ibishi
Chase Edmunds	Hoffman's Son Timmy
Morgan A. Vick	Hoffman's Daughter
Houda Zbit	Hani's Wife
Michael Stuhlbarg	Ferris' Attorney
Abdu Rahim Kashmir	Safe House Jihadist
Sherif Eltayeb	Executioner
David Ganly	Doctor at Qatar Military Base
Zef Balbona	Manchester Bomber #2
Albert Twanmo	Japanese Tourist Husband with Camera
Bijan Daneshmand	Amman Clinic Doctor
Ellie Wang	Japanese Tourist Wife
Allen Lidkey	Medic in Helicopter
Omar Berdouni	Al-Saleem's Lieutenant
Drif Said	Turkish Engineer/Explosive's Expert
Richard De Mayo	Tony
William Meredith	Soldier in Qatar
Howard Overshown	Predator Room Captain
Kathy Brady	Predator Room Captain #2
Sami Samir	Taxi Driver
Quentin Mare	Predator Operator Langley
Xanthe Elbrick	Manchester News Reporter
Ali Alvi	Manchester Bomber #1
Matt Gulbranson	Predator Operator Langley #2
Jill Wolsey	Soccer Mom
Annabelle Wallis	Hani's Girlfriend in Bar
Vedant Gokhale	Manchester Bomber #3
Goldshifteh Faharani	Actor
Ran Nikfam	Amsterdam Bomber
Al Twanmo	Japanese Tourist Husband with Camera
Zakaria Atifi	Al-Masri
Neil Dickson	Voices
Ridley Scott	Actor

Technical Credits

William Monahan

David Ignatius

Ridley Scott	Director,Producer
William Monahan	Screenwriter
Charles J.D. Schlissel	Executive Producer,Producer
Michael Costigan	Executive Producer,Producer
Donald De Line	Producer
David Ignatius	Screenwriter
Zakaria Alaoui	Producer
Christopher Assells	Sound Effects
Karen Baker Landers	Sound Effects
Bob Beemer	Sound Effects
Jina Jay	Casting
Avy Kaufman	Casting

Editorial Reviews

Ridley Scott's Body of Lies follows the increasingly complex machinations of CIA agent Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio), who begins the film as a field agent in the Middle East attempting to secure information that would stop upcoming terrorist attacks. Ferris maintains regular phone contact with his boss Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe), a CIA bigwig -- forever on his cell phone -- dispensing directives while attending to domestic duties like kiddie soccer games. After a promotion, Ferris becomes the Agency's number one man in Jordan, quickly earning the trust of Jordanian intelligence official Hani (Mark Strong in a scene-stealing performance) -- a relationship that Hoffman compromises in an attempt to catch one of the world's most feared terrorists. All of these characters come to life thanks to William Monahan's airtight adaptation of David Ignatious' novel, and the uniformly excellent performances. In addition to serving up some deliciously funny one-liners, Monahan employs a simple step-by-step construction in order to tell this remarkably complicated espionage tale -- a story chock-full of divided loyalties and paranoia. The audience always knows exactly as much as Ferris does, a fact that keeps his motivations -- and therefore the entire plot -- clear. As for the actors, DiCaprio is, in no uncertain terms, a movie star; and this is a star turn. He's certainly credible as an action hero, but he also communicates intelligence, fear, and an inherent morality in the scenes between the big explosions. This accomplishment makes the chases and gunfights all the more entertaining because we actually care about the person whose life is constantly at risk. Crowe complements DiCaprio as the Aussie's strong physical presence plays off DiCaprio's inherent softness (no matter how much time he spends in the weight room, Leo will always be a baby face). Ridley Scott's movies have always betrayed his formative years in advertising; his films always offer loads of surface pleasure, but they rarely have strong ideas. The crisply photographed and edited Body of Lies reveals some ambition, for while it certainly works as pure entertainment, this tale of a good man trying to extract himself from an impossible situation offers some commentary on America's feelings about being in Iraq. Fortunately, Scott never hammers this point home, and the result isn't a lecture about American foreign policy, but a smartly updated old-fashioned espionage thriller.