Review of Body of Lies

BODY OF LIES (2008) **1/2 Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong, Golshifteh Farahani, Oscar Issac, Ali Suliman, Alon Abutbul, Simon McBurney. Murky geopolitical drama based on David Ignatius' novel about a CIA op (DiCaprio) attempting to take down a Bin Laden-ian terrorist in the Middle East with handler Crowe (going the full Clooney – gaining 50 pounds and literally phoning in his performance) acting as his eyes and ears throughout the course of action that has many pitfalls and dark alleys to pursue. Filmmaker Ridley Scott, working with an at- times-hard-to-keep interesting screenplay adaptation by William Monahan, does his best but ultimately the listlessness is bogged down until the final explosive act.