Movie Review: Body of Lies

Body of Lies was great but had a lot of bad in it too. So, here's my perspective.

What was great:

• Russel Crowe & Leonardo DiCaprio are great actors. I'm not necessarily fans of them as people, but as actors, I think they are quite wonderful, not my favorites, but definitely good at what they do.
• The story line was really good.
• I loved the perspective showing Ed Hoffman (Crowe) as a normal family man. Makes you wonder how many "normal" people you know that lead double lives. Hehe
• They didn't explain every little nuance. I love that. It means that you have to be somewhat intelligent to watch the movie in order to pick up these little tidbits of information. It keeps you interested in the film & thinking. I don't always want to watch this type of movie but every once in a while it is a relief.

What I didn't like:

• A white man sent by the CIA to gather ground intelligence in the Middle East? Really? You mean to tell me there are no good Middle Eastern-looking actors out there that they could have cast in the role of Roger Ferris (DiCaprio)?
• The sound effects were distractingly terrible. Random common computer sounds were inserted in a odd sort of way. I know the method to this madness was to show how the unlikely character in the scene directed an entire mission from his typical "home computer," but it was very odd & irksome. And, of coarse, there was the ever annoying squealing of tires on sand. This is a huge pet peeve of mine in movies. Whenever a car is driving on sand, on dirt roads, or in a field, the sound guys always have the tires squealing. Aaahhhhh. Since when do car tires squeal when there is no pavement?
• The violence was quite graphic. If you have any aversion to graphic violence, pick a different film or wait until it becomes the "Sunday Night Movie" on NBC, ABC, CBS, or whatever channel (even though violence on TV is getting a bit out of hand, in my opinion). Graphic violence, like sex, in movies is completely unnecessary. You can imply these things without showing everything.

There was a bit of bad language but it wasn't as bad as some "R" rated movies are these days. The "F" word was said a couple of times, which I always feel is a lack of creativity on the writers part, but it was not that distracting. This movie definitely earned its "R" rating (so no kids) but, if you can get beyond the violence, I would definitely recommend you watch it.

I give this movie a B+.