Opened: October 10, 2008

Directed by: Ridley Scott

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong, Golshifteh Farahani, Oscar Isaac, Ali Suliman, Alon Abutbul, Vince Colosimo, Simon McBurney, Mehdi Nebbou, Michael Gaston, Kais Nashif, Jameel Khoury, Lubna Azabal, Annabelle Wallis, Michael Stuhlbarg & Giannina Facio

Though Leonardo DiCaprio elevates the work through his strong performance, an espionage thriller from the great Ridley Scott starring heavyweights DiCaprio and Russell Crowe demands more than what’s seen in Body of Lies.

Roger Ferris (DiCaprio) is a CIA field agent working in the Middle East under the orders of Ed Hoffman (Crowe) – along with Jordanian GID director Hani Salaam (Mark Strong) – to pursue terrorist Al-Saleem (Alon Abutbul).

Unfortunately, there’s nothing in the screenplay that hasn’t been seen before in similar films. Even the romance between Roger and Aisha (Golshifteh Farahani) feels contrived as a weak plot deviice.

Crowe’s Ed is a throwaway character that doesn’t push the envelope in any way, but Strong is fantastically suave as Hani – if you’re willing to look past the whitewashing.

Final say: It would be a lie saying you should watch this. ★★☆☆☆