Body of Lies: DVD, Blu-ray Review (2009)

A Convoluted Truth
Directed by Ridley Scott, written by William Monahan, 129 minutes, rated R.
Ridley Scott's “Body of Lies,” now out on DVD and Blu-ray disc, is a misfire, but not an embarrassment. So, that’s positive, I guess.

Good luck with that, you say? Good luck, indeed. The trouble with the movie isn’t just that we’re still too close to our involvement in the Middle East to see it clearly, but that the movie itself fails to make us believe that it sees it clearly. “Body of Lies” is too ambitious for its own good. It tries to view the Middle East from so many angles, it lacks the critical clarity of vision necessary to carry itself and audiences through to the end.
What’s also working against it is its budget, which is so large, Scott and his screenwriter, William Monahan (“The Departed”), had to balance any insight they might have gleaned from David Ignatius’ book, on which the film is based, with the cheaper underpinnings of entertainment. Problem is, the two don’t mix because Scott and Monahan don’t want a mere entertainment. More than anything, they want something that’s profound, which would have been nice if the crowd-pleasing elements hadn’t undermined them.

If all of this sounds straightforward, it isn’t. Some will argue, of course, that it can’t be--we are, after all, dealing with the Middle East, which is complicated beyond reason.
But regardless of how good the performances are--and they are very good here--what good are they in a cluttered, unfocused movie that can’t contain its story or its characters, and which too often lacks logic and narrative drive? And why offer a forced, awkward romantic subplot involving Ferris and a pretty nurse (Golshifteh Farahani) when it has no place in the movie? Oh right, to broaden the audience and to help pay for the movie.
Too bad by doing so they screwed it up.
Grade: C
Features: |
- Commentary by Director Ridley Scott, Screenwriter William Monahan and Original Novel Author David Ignatius - Actionable Intelligence: Deconstructing Body of Lies: Key Sequences are Exploded in Depth Via On-Set Footage and Cast/Crew Interviews - Digital Copy of the Film |
Video: |
Widescreen 2.35:1 Color (Anamorphic) |
Audio: |
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 SPANISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 FRENCH: Dolby Digital 5.1 |
Subtitles: |
English, Spanish, French |
View the trailer here:
0 comments:
Post a Comment