Movie Review: Body of Lies: An unpretentious entertainer

Directed by Ridley Scott
Main Cast: Russell Crowe, Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Strong

Contemporary and pacy from the first to the last frame, Body of Lies is a speedy entertainer. We are drawn in to the games of deceit, lies, power, terrorists and the CIA (Central Investigative Agency) (In short, America saving the world).

DiCaprio plays a CIA agent riding danger in the streets of Iraq and Jordan, while Crowe plays his senior, adroitly controlling operations through his cell phone in America. As with his previous film American Gangster, Scott manages to hold our attention with his apt treatment and by extracting great performances from Dicaprio and Crowe - now a Scott regular. Its not a classic, but certainly not boring.

Last Word
Why did Amitabh Bachchan reject such a meaty role of Honey? Insecurity?

AMERICAN GANGSTER: Decent Cinema

American Gangster
Directed by Ridley Scott
Main Cast: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Cuba Gooding Jr.

Forget all other Scott movies, but the pattern remains. The opening scene rests on shock value, kerosene or gasoline raining down on a man before he is set on fire and shot by Frank Lucas (Denzel), an assistant to a drug lord who rises to power in the drug supply market. On the other side, Ritchie (Russell) is probably the only honest cop in town. The main protagonists clash as Ritchie attempts to bring down Frank's drug empire. Based on a true story, the film is engaging for the most part, despite having a cop versus gangster concept that we have viewed so many times before. The two main characters are largely responsible for lifting the film out of its tried and tested ground to make it interesting cinema.