Comments on Getafilm: REVIEW: Body of Lies (C+)

Thanks for visiting, Lucy. You say po-tayt-oh, I s...

2008-11-25T13:46:00.000-06:00

Thanks for visiting, Lucy.

You say po-tayt-oh, I say po-tot-oh. You say best, I say worst.

It's all semantics.

This movie is definitely one the best of 2008

2008-11-25T13:32:00.000-06:00

This movie is definitely one the best of 2008

Hmm...well there's no denying your first thought. ...

2008-10-19T19:51:00.000-05:00

Hmm...well there's no denying your first thought. I don't know how many they've done together, but they're both already signed on for Nottingham next year, which I'm looking forward to despite myself, mostly out of nostalgia for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

As far as raising international awareness goes, well I certainly agree that's the most important thing in the world (it's actually my full-time job), but I think Ridley Scott could do it in a more enlightening, perhaps less violent way. Thanks for commenting again!

Apparently Ridley Scott enjoys working with Russel...

2008-10-18T17:16:00.000-05:00

Apparently Ridley Scott enjoys working with Russell Crowe; and he likes to make movies that raise international awareness (i'm thinking Blackhawk Down and Kingdom of Heaven)... that's a good thing i'd say

Fantastic - I will make sure to give that one a se...

2008-10-17T16:00:00.000-05:00

Fantastic - I will make sure to give that one a serious read and add my thoughts as well. I didn't think there would be a more vitriolic recent review than my take on Blindness, so this ought to be fun to read...

Well, you encouraged me to put the hurt on it, Dan...

2008-10-16T15:53:00.000-05:00

Well, you encouraged me to put the hurt on it, Daniel, and I did. I think my review makes yours almost look like a rave, haha.

I liked the way you noted that this movie seemed like such an obvious echo of previous "war on terror" pictures from Hollywood in the last year or so, a point that became central to the comments section at Coleman's Corner.

Haha, you're right. My britches are a little too b...

2008-10-16T09:24:00.000-05:00

Haha, you're right. My britches are a little too big for EverHYPE - even Blogger can barely contain my amazing and voluminous writing. Just kidding. Well I tried to to hype you up the other day but it required a sign-up process that I wasn't willing to go through with at the time.

I definitely agree with your review that the visuals were the strong point here (along with the pacing and editing, that's what my "production" score includes), but I gotta say that I thought the acting was solid across the board, as I note above re: Crowe, DiCaprio and Strong.

Anyway you look at it, we agree this movie was a missed opportunity for something much better and much more important.

I was meaning in terms of your scoring, since you ...

2008-10-16T01:24:00.000-05:00

I was meaning in terms of your scoring, since you gave 10 for acting... I don't feel they showed much skill as acting, it was all situation based really...

Yeah EverHYPE is just a kind of review site, but it's more organized and structured in a way that it's easier to find stuff, of course if you're a big writer like yourself you may want more flexibility, but it suits me.

Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Michael. I'...

2008-10-15T20:26:00.000-05:00

Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Michael. I'm not really sure where you pick up on optimism in my review here; I agree that it's a bad movie. Never heard of EverHYPE, but uh, good luck with that, pal.

just checked this movie out the other day. Despite...

2008-10-14T22:22:00.000-05:00

just checked this movie out the other day. Despite your optimism on this film I can’t really agree… I felt it was rather weak in some ways. Ridley Scott is a genius in some films, but not this one.

I actually hyped it on EverHYPE and gave Body of Lies 69%:

Check it out, http://www.everhype.com/hyper/Michael?X=M645.

If you get on rate me a 5 on that one and request friendship.

You'll live, Nick. Thanks very much, Joe. I think ...

2008-10-13T12:09:00.000-05:00

You'll live, Nick.

Thanks very much, Joe. I think it's a combination of factors, as I outlined in that last post I link to above: They're polarizing, or they're made by people with an agenda, or they're just plain bad. Or, most of all, people just aren't interested. BoL is a case of these latter two factors.

As it happens, the most critically acclaimed of these movies are the ones that actually bring the war home, another of my theories outlined in the post. Traitor and Stop-Loss, for example, are not only two of the better movies from this genre, but also two of the few that take place stateside. I don't think that's a coincidence (same goes for Elah, actually, which was also critically acclaimed). Neither of them had been released when I wrote that, otherwise I would have been able to flush it out a little better.

There are two upcoming movies, American Son and The Hurt Locker, which I think may prove this further. I expect the former to be the better movie.

Well, Sam, that's somewhat validating, but it's still annoying that we've all spent our time on this movie!

I have seen it now, and I can say your perceptions...

2008-10-13T00:58:00.000-05:00

I have seen it now, and I can say your perceptions are DEAD-ON!!!!

Tremendous review, Daniel. On one level, I appreci...

2008-10-12T17:30:00.000-05:00

Tremendous review, Daniel. On one level, I appreciate you enabling me to ignore another piece of consumer entertainment product. With so many choices out there and less petty cash to spend on them, nothing less than a B+ warrants my attention.

Why do you think almost every single narrative about the war on terror or on Iraq so far has been so mediocre? I hold United 93 out of that genre, but include all the flicks discussed here. Have the movies all been this bad, or are critics just not falling in love with them?

I am not so sad that I missed the press screening ...

2008-10-11T04:33:00.000-05:00

I am not so sad that I missed the press screening of this anymore!

Thanks ;)

I'd like to think I felt disappointment toward Tra...

2008-10-10T16:12:00.000-05:00

I'd like to think I felt disappointment toward Traitor more than disdain:

"as an overall illustration of how religious zealots can "use" people to carry out violent acts, it's mostly successful."

Of course, I did go on to say:

"it will be just another forgettable movie; the lasting images will unfortunately be of violent Muslims."

Same goes for Body of Lies - but worse.

I didn't think about DiCaprio's roles...interesting. I think you might have found yourself a future post there.

Yea, I was just gonna come in here and say how sur...

2008-10-10T15:29:00.000-05:00

Yea, I was just gonna come in here and say how surprised I was that Traitor got a higher grade than this (which I haven't seen), considering your disdain for it.

I'm not big on Scott or Crowe (though I think both are talented, of course), so I'll likely sit this one out. And if DiCaprio found yet another script where his character dies at the end, that would be too much for me. Talk about a martyr syndrome...

Oooh, put a hurt on it, Alexander! If Eagle Eye wa...

2008-10-10T10:31:00.000-05:00

Oooh, put a hurt on it, Alexander! If Eagle Eye was any kind of fresh, interesting story, then it very likely could end up being the superior movie. But - does it have someone who says "Buddy" every three minutes? I had flashbacks to Encino Man a couple times here.

Sam, I actually hated Black Hawk Down, and I skipped Kingdom of Heaven, mostly because people who recommended I see it were people who loved Black Hawk Down. I think Scott just needs to take some creative freedoms and try something totally cutting-edge, maybe get back to the future.

I didn't think I would ever end up recommending Traitor, Evan, but between the two it's the more important film, even if it's not as visually impressive.

Yikes, glad I decided to skip this puppy. Looked j...

2008-10-10T10:11:00.000-05:00

Yikes, glad I decided to skip this puppy. Looked just like Traitor except with bigger names.

Seems like an obvious rental on a slow night, however. I like pretty pictures. :)

Well, this is just what I expected, and you were r...

2008-10-10T06:33:00.000-05:00

Well, this is just what I expected, and you were refreshingly blunt with the assessment here. I won't rush to see it (too much, too little time) but if it fits in, fine. I am not a big Ridley Scott fan despite your rightful acknowledgement of BLADE RUNNER (and ALIEN) I disliked AMERICAN GANGSTER and BLACK HAWK DOWN, for different reasons, but still, I know both have their adherents.
I like the way you described Di Caprio's "costume." LOL!

Yeah, I kind of hated it. I'd probably give a (D),...

2008-10-10T05:06:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I kind of hated it. I'd probably give a (D), like Blindness.

Nothing seemed to really work here, on just a surface level or anything. I didn't think DiCaprio and Crowe had much in the way of chemistry; I thought Scott's direction was completely uninspired; the screenplay a jumbled mess.

It almost makes Eagle Eye look like a great film... for what it does, anyway.