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Body of Lies

Another forgettable thriller

By BRETT MICHEL | October 16, 2008

2.0 Stars

Remember Spy Game? Tony Scott’s 2001 action thriller wasted the talents of two of Hollywood’s biggest (past and future) stars: Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. Now, Scott’s older, beknighted brother, Ridley, squanders two of today’s biggest stars, Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe, in another forgettable thriller. Sir Ridley must have been a fan of Hany Abu-Assad’s Paradise Now, a superlative 2005 drama that humanized a pair of suicide bombers (Ali Suliman and Kais Nashif), but there’s little humanity here, as he casts the talented actors in throw-away roles. A scruffy DiCaprio plays Roger Ferris, a CIA operative in the Middle East who launches f-bombs at his US handler, Ed Hoffman (Crowe), via constant cell connection –– when he’s not calling attention to himself by romancing a Muslim nurse (Golshifteh Farahani). British actor Mark Strong shines as Hani, the smooth head of Jordanian security, but for a film dealing with Intelligence, Body of Lies has little enough of its own. 129 minutes | Boston Common + Fenway + Harvard Square + Somerville Theatre + Chestnut Hill + Suburbs

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