My hand flew to my mouth in shock when the bomb exploded, my mind still fresh with the face of a sweet elderly Chinese woman holding bright yellow flowers as she posed for her husband's camera at the famous tourist market. Tears slowly trailed down my cheeks as I stared in silent anguish at the destruction the bomb caused, her smiling face still floating around in my mind mixed with repeated thoughts of "She's never going to smile again. She's dead."
That is what I will remember. If anyone at any time asks me how Leonardo diCaprio's movie, Body of Lies, was, that is the first scene that will pop into my head.
At a length of slightly over 2 hours, Body of Lies is great for those who want something more intellectual and different from the fluff that are shown most of the time in the cinema. It has violence, foul language and acts of betrayal and conspiracy mixed in with the rage of war. By the time you reach the end of the movie, you won't know who to trust anymore and you will see the world and everyone around you in a whole new paranoid light. It is definitely not for the faint-hearted, especially during some of the torture scenes. I actually had my eyes closed when Leonardo's character got his fingers bashed.
Although it seems like every other spy-war movie, you'll definitely see a major difference just from one character in particular. Hani, played by Mark Strong, is a very powerful man who will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. But he does not soil his hands with torture and blood, no, he uses better, somewhat kinder methods to get information. Partnering with Leo's character, Roger Ferris, Hani only had one very simple rule; never lie to him. You can say that he is a benevolent man armed not with guns and grenades but with a strong belief in trust and a hard grip on integrity.
However, like every single spy-war movie I've seen, there must always be a girl. Take Spy Game starring Brad Pitt and Robert Redford for example. I thought the plot was good but getting into trouble in the middle of a U.S. and China trade agreement because of a girl? Does that really happen in real life? The same thing goes for Body of Lies; the heroine was supposedly kidnapped and the hero goes off and drops everything to save her. I didn't see him go to that much extra lengths to save the guy he framed in order to arrest the real master mind.
The movie started off great, suspense and action in all the right dosage...until you reach the hour and 20-minute mark. That's when you'll start glancing at your watch and wonder, "How long more?" This restlessness will continue for another 20 minutes until finally, the climax of the movie starts.
Body of Lies is worth a watch but only for those who can follow the politics of war and understand certain Muslim references. For those who have watched it, have you seen the goofs at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758774/goofs? I love to take note of irregularities in movies and IMDB (Internet Movie DataBase) is one of the best websites to spot mistakes that the movie directors made. :D
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