CS Weekly Archive > Weekend Read > 10/10/08

Who Do You Trust?

By david michael wharton

William Monahan adapts David Ignatius' novel of crosses, doublecrosses, and even more crosses into a paranoid thriller about the War on Terror that arrives refreshingly free of an agenda other than to entertain but with a lingering sense of "been there, done that."

Body of Lies

Screenplay by William Monahan
Based on the novel by David Ignatius

Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) is one of the CIA's top agents on the ground in the Middle East—he knows the cultures, he speaks the languages, and he does his best to work with, rather than at cross purposes to, the local governments and intelligence agencies. After CIA handler Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) tasks him with tracking down the elusive terrorist leader behind a new rash of bombings, Ferris finds himself at the head of an elaborate plot to lure the terrorist out into the open. However, Hoffman's (Crowe) ends-justify-the-means tactics constantly interfere with Ferris' carefully orchestrated plans on the ground, leaving the agent caught between multiple competing forces, none of which Ferris is sure he can trust.

Unlike the parade of films that have explored every aspect of 9/11 and the war in Iraq over the past few years, Body of Lies doesn't seem to have any real political axe to grind. Unfortunately, this proves to be both a boon and a hindrance. The film is at its best when playing up the dynamic between Ferris and Hoffman, but without much to say about the problems and world being portrayed, the film too often feels like nothing more than well-orchestrated action sequences punctuated by Ferris and Hoffman arguing with each other. Ferris is crafty, capable, and—when necessary—ruthless, cannily negotiating with Jordanian intelligence honcho Hani Salaam (Mark Strong) one moment, then overseeing the brutal interrogation of a suspect the next. Ferris truly knows the people and the culture he's immersed in, understanding that when fighting against an enemy that has, as the film puts it, retreated into the past —no longer using cell phones, communicating face-to-face or via messenger—human assets are the key to any successful strategy. Hoffman, on the other hand, attacks every objective with a carefree, paternalistic hubris, confident that his billions of dollars of surveillance tech will win the day and that anyone who isn't with him is against him. The characters are interesting, they're just not used to their full effect.

At 128 minutes, Body of Lies does sometimes drag, particularly during the well-done but somewhat arbitrary romantic plotline between Ferris and a local nurse (Golshifteh Farahani) who patches him up after a tussle. While the hesitant romance between the two does further establish Ferris' respect for the local culture, nurse Aisha seems primarily to exist so Monahan can use her against Ferris late in the film, and as a result the subplot seems like an unnecessary distraction, albeit a pleasant one.

The bulk of the film is the same subterfuge and betrayal that have been the backbone of successful espionage outings such as the Bourne franchise, but played out a bit closer to home…or at least closer to our 24-hour cable news networks. The film often speaks in the shorthand we've all become too familiar with over the past decade—at one point a fellow agent asks Ferris to shoot him in the head if things go bad, so he doesn't wind up getting his head "cut off on YouTube." And when one character is later captured and awakens in a dark room, surrounded by hooded men, in front of a video camera, the resulting scene is intense and terrifying in a way that has as much to do with our collective societal fears as with anything the script itself is doing.

A solid but familiar thriller, Body of Lies does what it does well, even if what it's doing isn't particularly revolutionary.

Body of Lies
Warner Bros.
Rated R; 128 min.

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David Michael Wharton is the managing editor of CS Weekly and a contributing editor of Creative Screenwriting. His body is at least 90% lies.


Body of Lies courtesy Warner Bros.

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