British Actress Blog

Body of Lies (2008)

Score: 8/10

Director: Ridley Scott

Stars: Annabelle Wallis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong, Oscar Isaac.

The Honorable Mention Series:

Body of Lies

Annabelle Wallis

Synopsis: Two undercover agents team up to takes down one of the worlds most dangerous men.

Review: A CIA agent named Roger Ferris ( Leonardo DiCaprio ) teams up with another agents named Bassam (Oscar Isaac ) to track down one of the world’s most dangerous men. During a dangerous mission, they uncover valuable intelligence while under enemy attack. This leads to the CIA finding the secret location of an enemy safe house which will lead them to their target.

Hani’s Girlfriend

Annabelle Wallis

Annabelle Wallis is hardly even in this movie and doesn’t even really have much of line! Why would the writers and Ridley Scott take such an actress with her kind of range and give her an extras role? What? Was it because it was earlier in her career? Something similar has be done with her film Mine (2016) with Armie Hammer. She played an awesome female warrior in the film The Sword of Vengeance (2015), a movie that showed what she is capable of but these barely noticeable roles are just a waste. I expected more from Ridley Scott. Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the most versatile and amazing actors in Hollywood. His film the The Aviator (2004) with Kate Beckinsale was well done. This guy is a true living legend. Oscar Isaac plays a spy just like in the film The Bourne Legacy (2012) with Rachel weisz. His role is really very similar and really predicable unfortunately. Russell Crowe gives a good performance in this film. It’s strange to see this Gladiator so big though. He plays the typical sneaky CIA handler very well.

Hani

Mark Strong

Mark Strong is damn great in this film. It’s amazing to think that this is a British actor playing an Arab very convincingly. He did very well in the film Before I go to Sleep (2014) with Nichole Kidman. His character in this film shows that he truly understands the human psychology of his people and what it is that they want. Not only does he dress sharp, he knows how to talk to people, and maintain control of his environment. No matter how powerful Russell Crowe’s character is, Mark Strong’s character understand the minds of people. He is the spider, building his giant web, and everyone is in his trap. The story line shows the audience enough details using the screen writing technique of “set up and pay off”. Because of how the script is written, you understand this master mind character and tend to respect the character more. This character is one of the reasons I rated this movie so high. I would encourage the viewer to see the story from the perspective of this character more than Leonardo DiCaprio’s character. When you do this, you will better understand this film.

Roger Ferris

Leonardo DiCaprio

Ridley Scott’s cinematography is just simply amazing. You feel like you are in the movie. The set dressing, wardrobe, and backgrounds are all high quality. The lighting is a bit drab some of the time and a little to “green”. Ridley Scott uses drama to build up to an action scene, which pays off so much better than full blow nonstop action movies that flood Hollywood today. The level of detail in this story is so well done that that the story feels more so realistic. The whole movie is very high quality. This film is not for everyone, it being a spy thriller after all. Watch this film is you’re a fan of spy films.

More Spy Films

The Bourne Legacy (2012)

Nothing but the truth (2008)

The Recruit (2003)

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

Atomic Blonde (2017)

Æon Flux (2005)

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