Movies concerning the War on Terror have consistently fallen on their faces since the onset of the war in Afghanistan.
Last year was cursed with a spate of mediocre terrorism-centered prestige pieces, including such languid fare as Rendition,"" ""Lions for Lambs"" and ""The Kingdom."" Perhaps Hollywood just needed to get a few practice rounds in because the most recent film in the genre, ""Body of Lies"" from acclaimed director Ridley Scott, has finally given the anti-terror campaign its first successful film.
Much of this is due to the movie's focus on the plot instead of overloading the viewer with its political message. Focusing on jaded CIA operative Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio), ""Body of Lies"" details the assault against a terrorist organization in Jordan, as well as the scheming political system in charge of the operation led by cold bureaucrat Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe). In addition to infiltrating a terrorist organization, Ferris is forced to work with the ruthless Jordanian intelligence minister, played by the obviously non-Jordanian Mark Strong.
The film's dense story is one of its greatest strengths. With so much going on, the sense of urgency is constant. Scott and screenwriter William Monahan manage to perfectly convey the drastically high stakes of Ferris' mission. Scott's filmography of action movies such as ""Gladiator"" also shines here, with some early chase scenes evoking a Bourne-like sense of chaos and tension. ""Lies"" owes a lot to the ""Bourne"" series, both in its tone of constant suspicion and frenetic style, as well as 70s thrillers such as ""Three Days of the Condor"" that in turn inspired the ""Bourne"" movies. In fact, change Iraq to Vietnam and ""Lies"" would be right at home in the post-Nixon era of distrust and paranoia.
It's where ""Lies"" deviates from this world of deceit and espionage that it suffers. Writers give Ferris a love interest who would be more aptly described as a plot device than an actual person. On occasion, Ferris goes on side quests peripheral to his mission in Jordan, which are considerably more conventional than the rest of the film. One scene in particular involves Ferris breaking into an apartment only for its occupant to return home, feels like it has been done countless times before.
Fortunately, DiCaprio is able to partially salvage these scenes. Ferris is a character defined by world-weariness, and although DiCaprio manages to convey an underpinning loyalty to his mission and country, whether that loyalty is well placed or not. Crowe complements DiCaprio well as his preoccupied superior. The performance oozes pure smarm and is both comical and disturbing at the same time.
""Body of Lies"" may not be the grand masterpiece Hollywood has tried to make about the age of terror. However, it is of considerably higher quality than much of its ilk in the modern thriller genre, and at the very least, it points the genre in the right direction towards that eventual masterpiece.
Grade: B
