[19] A nine-week shoot also took place at CLA Studios and in the desert around the city of Ouarzazate. Scott directs the film masterfully. Crowe is at his best playing characters like this. Cynicism is everywhere. [35] Ebert thought the cultural context of their relationship was well established, but that it essentially existed as a convenience of the plot, to set up the unlikely conclusion. About Body of Lies. Hoffman appears all-knowing, frequently surveying from the air, keeping constant contact with Ferris as he aids him in setting up a fictional terrorist group to smoke out Al-Saleem. I especially like the use of aerial surveillance, as it gave the film a much wider scope and added to the feeling of always being watched. Ferris observes men burning records and attempts to bluff his way in but is exposed. 2008 128 min R Drama, Suspense, Action/Adventure Feature Film. David Ignatius' "Body Of Lies" is a suspenseful, fast paced, exceptionally well written novel about a secret CIA operation in the Middle East. I'm not sure many could have been as appealing as he is here. Salaam and his agents arrive at the last moment, saving Ferris' life. Though the film itself is sometimes guilty of falling back into safety, it remains consistently exciting and intently engaging even when those moments occur because of how keenly detailed and acted it is. Body of Lies is a 2008 American action thriller film directed and produced by Ridley Scott and written by William Monahan. He meets Nizar, a member of the terrorist organization who is prepared to offer information in return for asylum in North America. A Warner Bros. executive said he was disappointed with the film's opening and attributed it to its controversial storyline, although Body of Lies fared better than previous pictures about the "war on terrorism" such as Rendition, In the Valley of Elah, and Lions for Lambs, which all performed well below studios' expectations. [7], Mark Strong's performance was mentioned by several critics, with Scott calling it "a marvel of exotic suavity and cool insinuation"[6] while Ebert "particularly admired" his aura of suave control. He also clashes with the Jordanian head Hani Salaam, who is convincingly played by Mark Strong, a man who only asks that the CIA don't lie to him, which is something that Ferris finds increasingly difficult to avoid. "[33] Lou Lumenick in the New York Post wrote that, "There's nothing here we haven't seen in many other movies"[34] and Lisa Kennedy in The Denver Post summarised: "Body of Lies is an A-list project with B-game results. The purpose of the operation is to bring out into the open a master terrorist known only as "Suleiman." Just a little smoke was sprayed in to augment the atmosphere but not dull the contrast. [26] It was not included on the soundtrack album but was released separately as a single. The plan is complicated by its being a secret from Hani and by Roger's attraction to a local nurse. Ferris grows into a more interesting character as the film progresses. Al-Saleem talks in religious language to his followers, and Roger and a terrorist engage in a back-and-forth debate as to whether killing people is lauded or condemned in the Quran. There's a torture scene near the end that is brilliantly intense and really keeps you guessing as to its outcome.With Ridley Scott at the helm the film is fantastic to look at and his direction is as smooth as it's ever been. Ferris is surrounded by a group of SUVs, which circle him to create an obscuring dust cloud before picking him up. Satellites and cell phones, bodies and lies: modern warfare. Information and translations of body of lies in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. Having recovered from his injuries, Ferris is assigned to Jordan to continue searching for Al-Saleem. E veryone who watches films knows about Hollywood's fascination with … Body of Lies indicts the U.S. for its arrogance, its soul-killing technologies, its abject cruelty. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, and Mark Strong in the lead roles. The terrorists avoid mobile telephones and computers, preferring face-to-face communication and encoded written messages. [21] Scenes set in the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia were filmed at the National Geographic offices in Gaithersburg, Maryland; both buildings were set in woodland and "It was eerily similar in terms of architectural style,...", said Arthur Max, the production designer, "We were given several empty floors. He recorded the orchestral portions of his score at the Eastwood Scoring Stage at Warner Brothers Studios. Body of Lies book. Check out our editors' picks for the movies and shows we're excited about this month, like Mortal Kombat, "Them," and Stowaway. Was this review helpful to you? for nearly fifty years, looks back on his professional and personal life. … The film was released in the United States on October 10, 2008. Watch the full movie online. (2008). It also offers us an interesting look at the perception of a relationship with someone from the West in the Middle East. The cruel King Louis XIV of France has a secret twin brother whom he keeps imprisoned. Body of Lies subtitles for free. Find the cheapest option or how to watch with a free trial. Al-Saleem sees TV news coverage of the attack and takes the bait. Powerhouse performances by Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe ignite this charged international-espionage thriller. It manages to work as both an exciting action thriller and as a more controlled politically-charged piece. The movie might be set in the Age of Jihad. By contrast, the Americans use sophisticated communication (Hoffman and Ferris regularly speak on the phone) and surveillance (high altitude spy planes offer a different point of view throughout) technology. Can the twin be substituted for the real king? 4.5 out of 5 stars 4.5 out of 5.0 5 Stars 82 4 Stars 26 3 Stars 9 2 Stars 2 1 Stars 2 Performance. Is there really a new Guns 'N' Roses song during the end credits. Suspecting he is motivated more by pride than ideology, they stage a fake terrorist attack and set up Omar Sadiki (Ali Suliman), an innocent Jordanian architect, as its instigator, hoping Al-Saleem will come out of hiding and attempt to contact him. A biopic depicting the early years of legendary Director and aviator Howard Hughes' career from the late 1920s to the mid 1940s. Body of Lies. DiCaprio is a great choice for the role, given his superb ability to convey emotion and his delivery making even mundane dialogue seem important. But the rules of trust and mistrust are wholly familiar. The dust cloud blocks Hoffman's view, so that he cannot determine which of the SUVs, now headed in different directions, is carrying Ferris. An outcast New York City cop is charged with bringing down Harlem drug lord Frank Lucas, whose real life inspired this partly biographical film. The scenes that bring them together are always gripping, Ferris meeting Hoffman in Washington to devise a new plan, Hani questioning how Ferris could lie to him, the three of them discussing their mission. Description. It's about Islam, where we are and where we're not, and it's a very interesting, proactive, internalized view of that whole subject. Roger Ferris, a CIA agent stationed in Amman, Jordan, devises a scheme to set a trap for Al-Saleem, a terrorist responsible for multiple car bombings in Europe. [19], Scott has used many gradations of lens filter in the past, but declined to do so on Body of Lies. It was also pre-screened on October 3 at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, at Michigan State University, at the University of Michigan, the University of Kansas, East Carolina University, and the University of Chicago on October 7 and at Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, The University at Buffalo, Columbia University, James Madison University, Syracuse University, the University of Colorado, the University of Washington, and Georgia Southern University on October 9. Al-Saleem does not believe Ferris, beats him, turns on a video camera, and orders his execution. Details below. A CIA agent on the ground in Jordan hunts down a powerful terrorist leader while being caught between the unclear intentions of his American supervisors and Jordan Intelligence. [15] The character Haani Salaam was modelled after the 2000–2005 GID chief Saad Kheir (1953–2009), whose involvement, according to the original author David Ignatius, in sharply handled interrogations without the use of torture, an encounter with a jihadist with his mother on the phone and being called the 'fingernail boss' were near accurately featured in the film.[16]. [10] DiCaprio chose to pursue the role because he considered it a throwback to political films in the 1970s such as The Parallax View (1974) and Three Days of the Condor (1975). [25] Of note is the presence of a song in the film named "If the World", performed by Guns N' Roses, and taken from their long-delayed Chinese Democracy album. The film was commercially released in the United States on October 10, 2008. Body of Lies is a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong, Golshifteh Farahani. Ferris and some salvaged discs are rescued by helicopter, but Bassam is killed in the explosion. Brandon Gray pointed out that people read these themes in the news media already, and there is a perception that Hollywood films are biased. Find out where you can buy, rent, or subscribe to a streaming service to watch Body of Lies (2008) on-demand. It is post-Bourne wrapped up in a more mature Bond plot with a politically conscious edge. Simultaneously, Hoffman organizes (unbeknownst to Ferris) a "side operation" via a local agency. "[31] On Metacritic the film has a score of 57 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Despite the objections of his boss, Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe), Ferris agrees to shelter Nizar. He shot the film in the Super 35 format with spherical lenses, and explained that these lenses offer more flexibility for interior and night pictures than the anamorphic alternative. However, the issue is that it doesn't really fit in with the tone of the film and ends up becoming a plot device later on in the film which makes it feel rather forced. Matthew Alford and Robbie Graham. Body of Lies is a well-made film, but lacks the emotional impact required to keep its audience interested. [19] Richard Cronn, the gaffer, attributed the success of this difficult approach to Scott's filmmaking intelligence, "Ridley will stand at the monitors and tell you what's he's looking for – he'll look at four monitors and say, 'I'm cutting from this to this to this.' A group of Los Angeles teenagers meet every week at their local diner to discuss their latest misadventures in their miserable lives. Karami escapes and notifies the terrorists in the safe house that it is being watched, and they abandon it. He desperately asks Salaam for help, admitting he fabricated Omar Sadiki's terrorist cell and the attack. From $17.99. As a result, scenes set in Jordan were instead filmed in Morocco. [5] [30], Body of Lies received mixed reviews from critics. Salaam visits Ferris in the hospital, and reveals he had faked Aisha's abduction and orchestrated Ferris' capture by Al-Saleem using Karami as a go-between. He is later found beaten and killed. In the United States, contemporary war films have performed relatively poorly. "[35], Critics observed the film's adherence to conventions of the spy thriller genre; Ebert called it "a James Bond plot" and David Denby in The New Yorker pointed out the "usual tropes of the genre—surveillance shots from drones, S.U.V.s tearing across the desert, explosions, scenes of torture" but praised Scott's superior management of space and timing. The film score was composed by Marc Streitenfeld, who has now composed music for Ridley Scott for three features. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. The Americans are in pursuit of a cleric who leads a group placing bombs all over Europe. Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? [11] After DiCaprio was cast, Russell Crowe was courted for a supporting role, to which he formally committed after Monahan's script was revised by Steve Zaillian, who wrote Scott and Crowe's American Gangster. Salaam invites Ferris back to Jordan and shares his suspicions that Omar Sadiki is a terrorist, although Ferris feigns ignorance. Salaam refuses to help because of Ferris' having lied to him earlier. Body of Lies movie reviews & Metacritic score: Roger Ferris is the best man U.S. Intelligence has on the ground, in places where human life is worth no more than the information it can get you. 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