Is there
anything easier to do right now then make the Middle
East seem like a terrible place? I say no, which
is why it isn't a surprise that the wonderful folks in
Hollywood keep on bringing the hot button subject to the
silver screen. However, as Peter Berg's the
Kingdom and Ridley Scott's Body Of Lies both
show, no one has exactly figured out how to make a great
film that revolves around that particular situation.
To be honest, the fact that Body Of Lies is so
messy and void of anything other than big set pieces
really took me off guard. Scott, after all, is
responsible for the riveting Black Hawk Down,
which I thought perfectly balanced the explosive chaos
in Africa (similar to the Middle East in regards to size
of mess, I believe) on top of each mini-story that was
taking place in the middle of it all. Here though,
there doesn't seem to be an actual over-arching goal for
the characters to try and achieve, so for over two hours
everyone consistently makes bad decisions simply because
they don't have anything else to do.
Aside from having no real point, the tagline of "Trust
No One. Deceive Everyone" proves to be wildly misleading
throughout the whole film. Actually, now that I
think about it, there wasn't a single moment that had me
on my heels ready to guess what might happen.
Instead I just sat in the theater waiting for Roger
Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio in tough guy mode) or Ed
Hoffman (Russell Crowe in plump guy mode) to sabotage
themselves with petty lies and side operations that make
no sense! Seriously, it was just bizarre. I
really can't ever recall seeing two people with the same
goal who manage to completely get in each other's way
like Ferris and Hoffman. It was like watching two
people with multiple left feet trying to dance on a
rocking deck.
By now you've probably noticed that I've yet to actually
mention anything about the premise, and it's because the
damn thing is so simple that it really isn't worth
talking about. For the sake of your curiosity
though, I will say that it's about Ferris and Hoffman
trying to catch a particular terrorist. That's it.
From what I gather the "lies" and complex going-ons
(which were non-existent) were suppose to make such
simplicity memorable, but that didn't happen. At
all.
At this point I realize that I've essentially made
Body Of Lies seem like a huge waste of time, but I
want you to know that I don't think it's one of the
worst films of the year. Maybe one of the more
disappointing, especially if you consider the talent
involved, but definitely not one of the more terrible -
it's just a mess.
Hopefully Ridley Scott's next effort will be much more
inspired.
- John Laird
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