blinkbox blog: Movie blog & reviews

Last week I got a chance to see Ridley Scott’s latest outing Body of Lies, and I have to say I was strangely impressed.

It’s easy to write off a director as accomplished as Scott, he can churn out hits on a yearly basis,but this ability often makes a man complacent. In a Hollywood consumed with star vehicles at the detriment of the quality of the film, it was good to see a big name movie, but the names serving to support the narrative and not over-rule it. I should probably also mention that, as is customary with Scott, the film is visually stunning.

Body of Lies focuses on the ongoing “War on Terror”, the one that hasn’t grabbed headlines for a while now. DiCaprio stars as Roger Ferris, a CIA operative working in Jordan to collect intelligence on terrorists. The plot is intricate (so we’ll steer clear of a synopsis) but good enough to keep you interested the whole way through. There are also a couple of cringeworthy torture scenes that have you squirming in a way that SAW could never manage.

DiCaprio shines in Body Of Lies. As his boyish good looks begin to fade we’re beginning to see a talent he seems to have been sitting on since What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. His role in this movie isn’t a million miles removed from his role in Blood Diamond, he seems to be proving himself as the unlikely hero of recent. The guy who you can never fully empathise with because of all the terrible things you have witnessed them do, but who later finds redemption.

Ferris’s boss, Ed Hoffman is portrayed by Russell Crowe, who will always excel as the dude you love to hate (i.e, America ) and a special mention should go to Mark Strong, who is superb as Hani Saleem, the Head of Jordanian Intelligence. His on screen chemistry with DiCaprio really adds to this movie.

If you’re looking for something political that might even make you think a little bit, while the rest of the world is watching Beverly Hill Chihuahua then this is the one for you this week.