Body of Lies
March 2009 Reviewed by: Rad Bennett Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Given the stars and the director, one might fully expect this film to be competently made, but it turns out to be much more than that -- a taut, exciting action-drama that also has political teeth.

Director Ridley Scott has it in for the CIA and paints its duplicity and spying methods in very unflattering terms. If the movie has any fault it is in the slightly uncomfortable meshing of realism and over-the-top derring-do, in which realistic settings and events are overcome by a hero who can keep pace with 007 in staying alive through difficult situations.

Roger Ferris is that hero and is played with sincerity and swagger by Leonardo DiCaprio, who has emerged of late as an exceptionally valuable action-adventure star. Ferris, a CIA ground operative, is sincere and builds his spy network with people he can trust. He is more and more dismayed that his bosses seem to have no concern for human life and merely use informants as tools, forgetting that they are people. His main nemesis is Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe), a handler who lets him down while assuring him everything is going to be OK.

In an action to flush out terrorist leader Al Saleem, Ferris creates his own fictitious terrorist organization, even going to the extreme of blowing up a lot of corpses as a convincing show. On one level, he’s working with Hani Salaam (brilliantly played by Mark Strong), the crafty and suave head of Jordanian security, but on another he’s working against him. It’s a dangerous game. Throw a beautiful local nurse and love interest (Golshifteh Farahani) into that game, and you have a plot device that could be Ferris’s undoing.

All of the intricate action is observed in detail by spy satellites and high-altitude spy planes. These can track a man running down a street in an effort to get away from his captors. Is this really possible in creating chessboard-like war? I’d like to say it’s science fiction, but my gut tells me it’s real. Surely Scott makes it seem so. Russell Crowe plays against type in his fourth movie with Scott. He gains 50 pounds, wears glasses, and sports a convincing Southern accent (it’s always a shock to hear Crowe’s native Australian accent during an interview, so often has he successfully played Americans). His Hoffman is a weasel, a man who would sell out the long run for a short victory and not think twice about sacrificing an agent no loner needed. It’s such an impressive performance that I wonder why Crowe didn’t receive a large number of award nominations.

Usually, DVD producers send critics the highest-ranked DVD or Blu-ray edition for review, the one with all the extra features. This time they sent the single-disc, no-frills-at-all version. It got me to thinking. How much do extras mean to a buyer? Do most people really watch them, or file the disc away hoping to get to them "someday"? Would most people be willing to do without ancillary material to save money? This release might be a good test. Based on Amazon.com pricing, the single-disc-movie-only copy that I received sells for about $8 less than the double-disc release and about ten dollars less than the Blu-ray Disc.

As far as production values go, this disc is excellent, if not perfect. The picture has good detail and contrast, with colors that seem true to the original, though in this case that means a somewhat washed-out and steely fake-documentary look. The sound uses the surround channels with intelligence and purpose, but the overall soundtrack seems to lack dynamic range. On the plus side, the dialogue is easy to understand (and read when it was subtitled), but the key explosions seem to lack oomph.

As mentioned, the movie is available, in addition to this widescreen single-disc version, in a double-disc DVD set and on Blu-ray Disc. It is also sold as a single-disc fullscreen release. Whatever version you choose, you’ll be rewarded with top-notch action adventure. And probably come away from it hating the CIA, or at best not trusting it.

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