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A taut and engaging Middle Eastern thriller from Ridley Scott, who handles the political motivations just as well as the frenetic action scenes. BODY OF LIES is a modern-day counterpart to Scott's Crusader epic KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, revealing how the war between the East and West is nowadays fought through terror attacks and sinister subversion rather than all-out battles.

DiCaprio continues to develop as one of the most interesting actors of our age while Russell Crowe is cast against type as a shifty CIA controller. Although the on-the-ground operations, bombings and betrayals are as exciting as you'd expect, the film's real strength lies in the back story: namely, America's interference in cultures it doesn't fully understand or get to grips with. Add in another dignified performance from Mark Strong and you have a winning combination for a movie.

I have really liked Leonardo DiCaprio's films since he came back from his hiatus (esp Blood Diamond). However, this one was quite forgettable. I enjoyed the movie when I was in the theater and left thinking "Huh. That was pretty good". But the week after someone asked what movie I saw and I couldn't remember. It reminded me a lot of "The Kingdom" actually (the feel, not the details). It was a very well made film, dialog and script were good, just nothing really stood out and grabbed me. Leo was the shine, he is such a talented actor and I was happy to see him in a great role. I just wish the plot had something fantastic in it to make it into a great film.

Does trust go out the window in the time of war? It's the question the audience may ponder during the course of this film where it seems that even those on the same team aren't always working in each other's best interests.

Leonard DiCaprio stars as Roger Farris, a CIA agent who is seeking to capture a terrorist in Jordan. Farris is in constant contact with Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe), a US government official with no respect or time for Farris' calls to work with Jordanian officials to solve their case.

After a mishap jeopardizes Farris lead, he teams up with Hani (Mark Strong), a charismatic and enigmatic, Jordanian covert operations official.

What follows is the push and pull between the three men's methodology on capturing the terrorist.

While "Body of Lies" is definitely a product of a post-911 world, it does not feel like the numerous post-911 political thrillers such as "Syriana" due to it's subtlety. It's more of spy thriller with a cautionary tale on America's foreign relations mixed in.

One minor complaint is the pacing of the film. There are a few stops and starts as Farris deals with the reality of the effectiveness of his enemies. As he adjusts his plans it feels as if the story starts back from the top.

But the performances are excellent from DiCaprio; who is the only actor his age who could tackle this role with the any type credibility and depth. Crowe and Strong, down to Golshifteh Farahani as Aisha, the nurse DiCaprio is drawn to and especially Oscar Isaac who plays Bassam, DiCaprio's go-to guy for information.

Just finished watching Body of Lies (2008) for the first time ever and I surprisingly liked this movie while also acknowledging that it has some flaws.

Positives for Body of Lies (2008): This movie has a similar vibe and approach to its story like Black Hawk Down (2001) which was also directed by Ridley Scott. There is a sense of tension whenever our main character is on his mission. Leonardo DiCaprio is great as Roger Ferris which isn't surprising given he is one of the best actors of all time. Russell Crowe does an equally great job with his performance as Ed Hoffman and he has a great dynamic with DiCaprio. The movie's cinematography has this dirty gritty look that matches the tone of the movie. And finally, I appreciate that this movie feels like an old class spy thriller movie.

Negatives for Body of Lies (2008): The villains of this movie are not all that interesting or even intimidating at all. There are some performances that feel flat and dull. The movie lost my attention by the time I reached the climax. And finally, the ending to this movie felt dull and disappointing.

Overall, Body of Lies (2008) is a decent spy thriller movie that I won't mind rewatching in the future.

I'm starting to get what and especially why people praised Leonardo Di Caprio so much. He really holds the movie together here. It's a great script story, but with his charismatic performance he really gives it the extra edge it needs.

Ridley Scott has chosen a very peculiar story for (t)his movie. But he really treats it with much respect. His visual sense and his story-telling mastery combined with a great cast and the aforementioned script make up for a very interesting, entertaining, but still very complex and sophisticated! It's not something you can watch in-between doing other things. You do have to pay attention to what is happening to follow the story/plot. And I liked that very much :o)