Body of Lies: We Couldn't Tell, Honest or Not

Body of Lies starts out with an quote the movie should have focused more on. I didn't memorize all of it, but I did memorize (in paraphrasing): like the schoolchildren, those who have had evil done to them, do evil in return." That said, the movie focuses on conflicts between different sides of the forces at work against terrorism. They're on the same side, but different methods and different intelligence lead to different results. When they don't work together, the enemy realizes there's alot of secret agent men around and they go into hiding.

Leonardo DiCaprio is convincing (I'll explain later) as Roger Ferris, a C.I.A. operative who speaks and understands many of the languages and cultures in the Middle East. He grows out a beard and even blends in as a pale Iraqi. Russell Crowe is his boss, Hoffman, who stays in touch consistently via phone. The two never seem to be out of signal range, and there is always a C.I.A. spy satellite following Ferris. Mark Strong is Hani, the head of the Jordan Secret Service (read Jordan C.I.A.), whom Ferris immediately puts full trust in.

The careful readers will notice I explaiend the characters and not the plot. That's because, in all honesty, there are three plots. Maybe a more appropriate title for this movie is Three C.I.A. Operations and a Love Story. The movie moves from one plot to another like the previous didn't exist. Right when I believe Ferris truly cares about the loss of his partner who was beside him when an RPG blew up their car, the story puts Ferris in a different country. Apparently his friendship was left at the border, but a line about his friend needing justice would be nice. Why do I give such attention to the loss of his friend? Because the best line of the movie happens there. Ferris wakes up in a hospital, a doctor removing sharpnel from his arm. The doctor says, "Bone fragments... not yours."

Ferris is the type of agent that believes you have to understand the Middle East in order to fight in it. While Hoffman understands the technology and methods, he misses the importance of the culture. Hani is more capable using creative, non-torture methods to get an insider in the terrorist organization than any number of Hoffman's satellites, but Hoffman just won't leave it to the Jordans. This is why Ferris instantly wins Hani's trust and Hoffman almost immediately shoots himself in the foot, and their operations ultimately screw each other, screwing up their own in the process.

I know many of the men are asking why is DiCaprio a good actor in my mind suddenly? I realized here how well he speaks the language, looks the part, and is believable as a C.I.A. operative. No, I may not understand Ferris as a character because DiCaprio is playing him, nor Danny Archer (Blood Diamond), nor Billy Costigan (The Departed), but I do see him in terms of his profession. I realize now Billy Costigan walked around because, as a paniced undercover cop, he felt like running around, the same way Ferris is probably the only person that fully knows what happens next. He is convincing in his tone to Hoffman when he says, "In case you didn't see it, yes, it was me that assassinated him." He fully knows as his profession who he is saying it to and why in those words.

The movie is entertaining to see how the C.I.A. operates and the Jordanis operate, both very different. It seems annoying that at the end of each of the C.I.A. operations, Hoffman manages to screw it up or fall short. He ends it all with "Sorry, buddy," in the end, which I think is better than any monologue with Ferris. Hani is creative in his methods. Hani tells the mother of a member of the terrorist organization that he is now a successful businessman, sends her gifts in her son's name, hands him a cell phone, and tells him how he now has to tell his mother these lies of success. He has the terrorist in the palm of his hand, only spending money on gifts to the mother instead of satellites. Wow.

This is eye-opening, but it stretches everything too far and I feel tried of the story by the end. It is three plots, which Hoffman screws up every time. I'm not surprised by the third, except in the way the terrorists fool Hoffman. But by the lack of surprise by Hoffman, I feel this trick is only new to the audience. Hani is more interesting, and more time and plot should have been given to him instead of Hoffman. There's an entire side-plot about how Ferris and Hoffman create a fictional terrorist organization to bring their true target out by jealously, but then... guess what... Hoffman is only halfway committed to it and it backfires.

I could go on about exactly how Hani is a step ahead, but after you see the movie, just think for a minute how Hani might already be a step ahead of everybody and you'll get the idea.

The love story is only interesting because it is between a white and an Iranni, and it reveals how hard a relationship can be to form in traditional Middle East. When Ferris goes to have lunch with his love's sister's family, there are no men at the table. Use the war to fill this in, and suddenly you realize director Ridley Scott's attention to detail.

The love story doesn't need to be there. It feels forced into the plot, just like a shootout at the start and perfect-timing in the end. I would have believed either one, just not both in the same movie. Ferris was moved into being Jason Bourne for a moment there, dodging RPGs, being all-too-good at shoot-outs, and just too passive with it all.

I appreciate Ridley Scott, but his more believable or historically precise work is better. This is in line with Kingdom of Heaven and Black Hawk Down, but it is not his best. It is surprisingly up to date with technology, just not believable in how much Ferris can take without showing us some time-off or more time in the infirmary developing his underdeveloped romance with the Irani nurse.

Is it entertaining? It is for the first two plots, but I'm tired by the third and wanting my conclusion. The tech and methods satisfied me until then, so yes.

Is it for everyone? Yes. This is not gore or action based, nor political. This is tech/method-based, which is more about the different agencies being different than anything, which is a new terroritory that can appeal to everyone.

Is it memorable? No. It is not Black Hawk Down or anything of the nature. Ultimately, it will be overshadowed by the simple games played by Jason Bourne.