Hollywood Hues
Spy thriller

After a promising beginning, Ridley Scott’s Body of Lies lacks build up, writes Ervell E. Menezes

TAKE the quote "like flies to wanton men are we to the gods, they kill us for their sport" and substitute gods with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and you have a fair idea of Ridley Scott’s vision of the dreaded American espionage agency in Body of Lies. The title, too, says it all but that feeling is today more or less old hat. It would have been relevant two decades ago. That the CIA operatives are like blind men in dark rooms looking for black cats which are not there is apparent and Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) is just one such.

Divorced ("I’m a bad husband with an even worse wife `85 we’re divorced"), drifting from one assignment to another, he is currently in Iraq on a mission overseen by his boss Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe), with whom he has no great trust. Is he two-timing him? Is he loyal enough? That’s the mental state of these operatives for that is what espionage and counter-espionage is all about. But is he looking for a friendly liaison?

These operatives have to live by their wits, with danger lurking around almost every corner. The establishing shots are effective, stunning with not a jot of compunction shown. That his travels take him to Amman (there’s a thing about the Jordanians), Dubai and other Arab countries is academic. As for Hoffman and his table-bound bureaucrats, the action shifts from Washington DC and the CIA headquarters at Langley, Virginia. The technology employed is most sophisticated and the operatives can’t trust their shadows.

When Ferris meets cute nurse Aisha (Golshifteh Farahani), it is not just dramatic relief for he gets seriously involved. Maybe the romance looks out of place but it is delicately handled, especially the gulf between the two cultures and one can expect that of director Ridley Scott.

What is somehow inconsistent is his dilly-dallying with the story. Maybe the screenplay by Scott and Monahan is too meandering but there is no moral stand and little cumulative build up. It seems to end when it runs out of ideas, a kind of damp squib and has a dulling effect after that promising beginning. Most unlike Ridlley Scott who has impressed with space adventures like Blade Runner, Thelma and Louise and Gladiator and is known for his picture-postcard compositions.

One cannot doubt the realism and stark violence. Battered and bruised DiCaprio seems to bounce back with scars vanishing double quick but he does a credible job with overweight, near-unrecognisable Russell Crowe providing good support. Mark Strong is very impressive as another key operative Hani and Golshifteh Farahani turns in as neat and credible though underplayed performance as the seemingly shy nurse.

It is a letdown, no doubt but for Ridley Scott fans it is worth taking a look at anyway. You won’t repent it.

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