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 Jordan 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
Jameel Khoury	...	Marwan
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:

middle east | spy | jordan | terrorist | muslim | 

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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. [Japan] Warner Bros. [UK]

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English Arabic

Release Date:

10 October 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Penetration

Filming Locations:

Amman, Jordan

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,884,416, 12 October 2008

Gross USA:

$39,394,666

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$115,900,897

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

Carice van Houten actually played the character of Roger's wife Gretchen Ferris, but all her scenes were deleted and she does not appear in the final cut. The movie does provide dialogue that distills the story in the book, when Roger says they are getting divorced because "I was a bad husband and she was a worse wife".

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Goofs

The starting sequence is clearly not Manchester. Apart from the fact it is not raining, the houses have flat roofing, whereas in Manchester the roofing of terrace house of that period, almost without fail, is pitched slate tile. The pavement is also clearly side walk and the streets generally unconvincing. The pull back aerial reveals numerous failings such as residential massing, spacing and lack of mid Victorian architectural design and urban form.

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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

Bledstyle
Written by Pat Jabbar
Performed by Kasbah Rockers with Bill Laswell
Courtesy of Barraka El Farnatshi Prod.

User Reviews

Engaging, intelligent

V. well-made; everyone from the cast and crew pulled their own weight in Body of Lies.

Director Ridley Scott's genius shines through what could have been another unpalatable, trite topic of the US' relations with the Middle East and terrorism. He expertly unravels the story of CIA operative Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) who is assigned to flush out an evasive terrorist who is blowing up public places all over the world. Ferris is increasingly frustrated with his boss Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe)'s impatience and double dealings, which more than once puts himself in jeopardy, challenges the trust he is trying to build with Jordanian leader Hani (Mark Strong) and his budding romance with the pretty Palestinian nurse Aisha (Golshifteh Farahani).

DiCaprio just keeps getting better and better as he is now more able to lose himself in a role and successfully shed the pretty. Crowe does well in an understated but dangerously quiet role as a Washington-based puppetmaster. The versatile Italian-Austrian Andy Garcia-lookalike Strong is fantastic as the powerful Hani, while Farahani's face lights up the screen and turns in a memorable performance as well.

The attention to detail in this movie is just awesome; the action sequences are not over the top but satisfactory enough to not lose the main storyline despite the complex thread of subplots. Overall, an engaging, intelligently-made film.