Body of Lies

We can all be forgiven for expecting top notch work from Ridley Scott hence we can all be forgiven for feeling a tad let down by his latest offering BODY OF LIES. Many critics have been hyping it as the thinking man's action film of the year which I think is taking it a tad bit to the extreme. Yes, there are some interesting espionage points to be had here but honestly nothing we haven't seen before. Leonardo DiCaprio gives it his best here but somehow just seems wrong for the role. His strongest work, not surprisingly, comes in the form of his interaction with the "love interest" nicely played by Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani who they could have built a stronger character with. Russell Crowe is hardly in the film, major character, yes, but with little screen time and seems to have been casted for star power only though I will say he does one mean Beau Bridges impersonation and is a treat to watch here. All of this being said, the man who steals the flick is Mark Strong as Hani who brings a believabilty to his role just not quite seen with the others. There are small things Scott throws for credibility which is what sets him aside from many directors and I especially enjoyed his use of wild dogs throughout this picture and yes there is just enough in the way of action sequences to keep the die-hards somewhat happy. By no means a bad piece of work but sadly yet another in the long list of "wait for the DVD" offerings we've seen this year.