Body of Lies (2008)

A CIA agent on the ground in Jordan hunts down a powerful terrorist leader while being caught between the unclear intentions of his American supervisors and Jordon Intelligence.

Director:

Ridley Scott

Writers:

William Monahan (screenplay), David Ignatius (novel)

Stars:

Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Leonardo DiCaprio	...	Roger Ferris
Russell Crowe	...	Ed Hoffman
Mark Strong	...	Hani
Golshifteh Farahani	...	Aisha
Oscar Isaac	...	Bassam
Ali Suliman	...	Omar Sadiki
Alon Aboutboul	...	Al-Saleem
Vince Colosimo	...	Skip
Simon McBurney	...	Garland
Mehdi Nebbou	...	Nizar
Michael Gaston	...	Holiday
Kais Nashif	...	Mustafa Karami
Jamil Khoury	...	Marwan (as Jameel Khoury)
Lubna Azabal	...	Aisha's Sister Cala
Ghali Benlafkih	...	Aisha's Nephew Rowley

Storyline

Roger Ferris is a CIA operative in the Middle East; Ed Hoffman is his control at Langley. Cynicism is everywhere. In Amman, Roger works with Hani Salaam, Jordan's head of security, whose only dictum is "Don't lie to me." The Americans are in pursuit of a cleric who leads a group placing bombs all over Europe. When Hani rebukes Ed's demand that Jordan allow the Americans to use one of Jordan's double agents, Roger and Ed hatch a plan to bring the cleric to them. The plan is complicated by its being a secret from Hani and by Roger's attraction to a local nurse. Satellites and cell phones, bodies and lies: modern warfare.

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Plot Keywords:

jordan | terrorist | cia | middle east | lie | 

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Taglines:

Trust no one.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence including some torture, and for language throughout

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [Spain] Warner Bros. [France]

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English Arabic

Release Date:

10 October 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Chatter

Filming Locations:

Annapolis, Maryland, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£991,979 (UK) (21 November 2008)

Gross:

$39,380,442 (USA) (9 January 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Scott Free Productions, De Line Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Over the course of filming the Terrible Neighborhood scene, two tanker-truckloads of water were sprayed onto the location neighborhood streets because, for looks, wet roadways were considered preferable to dry pavement.

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Goofs

(at around 37 mins) As Ferris is leaving Aisha's apartment, there is the slightest reflection of a crew member sitting in a chair with a black cap observing the scene. It is just visible after Ferris' reflection leaves the picture frame and he walks out the door while the light outside hits it.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Title Card: I and the public know what all schoolchildren learn, those to whom evil is done, do evil in return. - W.H. Auden

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Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Inception/Predators/The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Shta"
Written by Pat Jabbar & Youssef El Mejjad
Performed by Kasbah Rockers with Bill Laswell
Courtesy of Barraka El Farnatshi Prod.

User Reviews

At the age of 70 Ridley Scott is still making Greats.

One of the Greatest Directors of All time has picked a touchy subject for his newest film. Did Rid pull it off?

Body of Lies is a smart political thriller on the state of some of the world's debacles,

Some of the high points of the film were the action sequences which were very similar to the style of action sequences of "Black Hawk Down". The acting was also great. Personally i liked Crowe's performance more as a CIA head he was very dedicated to the role and put on 66pounds for it, he also had the Virginian accent down. But I thought that Leinardo DiCaprio was very similar to his role in the departed. (Watch when he is talking on the phone you will see what I mean) The cinematography was Grade A also.

But the thing that impressed me most was the way Ridley Built up the story and tension not knowing who to trust, (obviously one of the themes of the movie) this brought me back to the days of "Alien" with the slow building atlosphere which made "Alien" one of the most respected films of all time. It was also a balanced look at the Iraq situation as it wasn't following the Anti-America trend but it also wasn't trying to justify the war. It also will leave you thinking about the current events long after the credits have ended.

All in All through great shots, Acting and Direction make "Body Of Lies" a hit and can be put on Ridley Scotts list of Greats on his CV.