The war in the Middle East. It is a war we cannot win, because for the most part, it is too complicated to even understand. Perhaps we shouldn't be involved... Or maybe we should. Who's to say? That is, in essence, what Body of Lies seems to say. In fact, that is in essence, what every film about the conflict in the Middle East has had to say over the last five years. The problem is Body of Lies doesn't have a new, innovative or particularly interesting way to get that idea across.
In fact, even though Ridley Scott was once one of the great pioneers in film-making, this movie adheres to every filmic convention possible when it comes to a film set around terrorism in the Middle East. The music, the fast cuts, the shaky camera angles... It's all been done a thousand times.
Body Of Lies main port of call seems to be an unflinching view of paranoid reality in the Middle East. Leonardo DiCaprio's character understands that reality, kill or be killed. He is the protagonist but he kills a basically innocent man in the first fifteen minutes of the film because the man could have described his face. That is interesting and realistic and I was impressed. However, just as The audience feels as though it may be treated to a raw, gritty view of the Middle Eastern conflict... Without giving anything away... It turns into just another Hollywood movie towards the end.
Leonardio DiCaprio is a good actor. One day he might be regarded as one the greats. But he tries too earnestly to be tough in this film. He is still baby faced and relies on furrowing his brow and glaring all too often. I can't be sure if this was the direction he received or his own idea, but he simply wasn't convincing. Also we have seen his tough, jaded yet still-a-good-man thing before in Blood Diamond, where frankly, he did a better job.
What to say about Russel Crowe? He plays a character named Ed Hoffman, a high level CIA operator who heads up several large scale organizations in the Middle East. His character was, I suppose, important to the film, but I didn't really take anything significant away about him. His character is pig-headed, untrustworthy and arrogant. There was potential there for something interesting. But did his character really serve a purpose other than the plot? I'm not so sure. They certainly gave him some antique dialog. "Aint no one innocent in this s___", for example.
That example right there does somewhat illustrate the strength of William Monahan's writing in this film. There wasn't really one line of dialog in the whole 128 minute runtime that to me stood out as original or interesting. There were admittedly a few moments of humor which were a pleasant respite, but apart from that the writing was pretty by-the-numbers. David Ignatious' novel might have been good enough to build a decent film around, but I guess no one was interested in doing anything different.
Body Of Lies is a movie which everybody will respond to differently. Many will like it much more than I did, many will dislike it much more than I did. Personally I just felt underwhelmed by the whole thing. It was average, and if it were some other director, I wouldn't even bother writing a review. I would think ho-hum and go about my day. But Ridley Scott used to make such brilliant films and I just can't understand why he's stuck to formula so much in Body Of Lies.
We have seen this exact movie at least half a dozen times before. Filmmakers need to go about this type of film in a new, more unique way. Otherwise they should just stop trying.
In fact, even though Ridley Scott was once one of the great pioneers in film-making, this movie adheres to every filmic convention possible when it comes to a film set around terrorism in the Middle East. The music, the fast cuts, the shaky camera angles... It's all been done a thousand times.
Body Of Lies main port of call seems to be an unflinching view of paranoid reality in the Middle East. Leonardo DiCaprio's character understands that reality, kill or be killed. He is the protagonist but he kills a basically innocent man in the first fifteen minutes of the film because the man could have described his face. That is interesting and realistic and I was impressed. However, just as The audience feels as though it may be treated to a raw, gritty view of the Middle Eastern conflict... Without giving anything away... It turns into just another Hollywood movie towards the end.
Leonardio DiCaprio is a good actor. One day he might be regarded as one the greats. But he tries too earnestly to be tough in this film. He is still baby faced and relies on furrowing his brow and glaring all too often. I can't be sure if this was the direction he received or his own idea, but he simply wasn't convincing. Also we have seen his tough, jaded yet still-a-good-man thing before in Blood Diamond, where frankly, he did a better job.
What to say about Russel Crowe? He plays a character named Ed Hoffman, a high level CIA operator who heads up several large scale organizations in the Middle East. His character was, I suppose, important to the film, but I didn't really take anything significant away about him. His character is pig-headed, untrustworthy and arrogant. There was potential there for something interesting. But did his character really serve a purpose other than the plot? I'm not so sure. They certainly gave him some antique dialog. "Aint no one innocent in this s___", for example.
That example right there does somewhat illustrate the strength of William Monahan's writing in this film. There wasn't really one line of dialog in the whole 128 minute runtime that to me stood out as original or interesting. There were admittedly a few moments of humor which were a pleasant respite, but apart from that the writing was pretty by-the-numbers. David Ignatious' novel might have been good enough to build a decent film around, but I guess no one was interested in doing anything different.
Body Of Lies is a movie which everybody will respond to differently. Many will like it much more than I did, many will dislike it much more than I did. Personally I just felt underwhelmed by the whole thing. It was average, and if it were some other director, I wouldn't even bother writing a review. I would think ho-hum and go about my day. But Ridley Scott used to make such brilliant films and I just can't understand why he's stuck to formula so much in Body Of Lies.
We have seen this exact movie at least half a dozen times before. Filmmakers need to go about this type of film in a new, more unique way. Otherwise they should just stop trying.
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