Body of Lies Review

It's been years since I've seen a movie the same day that it opened but I got to go see Body of Lies yesterday.

The plot is a CIA agent named Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) trying to bust an Islamic terrorist ring responsible for several bombings in Europe. To get inside the terrorist organization he has to rely on his boss and mentor, Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe), back in Langley and Hani Salaam (Mark Strong), the head of Jordan's intelligence agency. Since they're all in the spy business, none of the three really know who they can trust.

The movie has lots of action and intrigue that keeps the plot moving at a good pace. Mixed in with the violence and seriousness of the situation is a surprising bit of humor. The sarcastic exchanges between Ferris and Hoffman define the relationship of the field agent trying to accomplish the mission (and stay alive) with his bureaucratic boss who may have other ideas. There's also something ironically funny about a CIA director discussing top secret life and death decisions over his cell phone while helping his toddler go potty in the morning or dropping the kids off at school.

Crowe, best known for his action roles, plays an out of shape, CIA bureaucrat only concerned about stopping the terrorists now. He leads operations remotely either in a command center in DC watching satellite feeds or from his kids' soccer games via cell phone.

DiCaprio's character is the one whose life is on the line. Before meeting an informant, Ferris and his partner agree to shoot each other if either is captured so that they don't get their heads cut off in a terrorist propaganda video. Unlike his boss, Ferris shows concern for his informants and views them as more than expendable resources.

The acting is pretty good and mostly believable. You assume the characters are using encrypted communications but it's hard to believe that spies would talk so freely on cell phones in public places about their missions. Other than that, the movie kept my interest and was worth watching in the theater. Some of the shots from the UAVs and satellites are pretty cool to watch on the big screen.

Finally Saw Pirates of the Caribbean III

We missed Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End when it was in the theater last year and finally got around to renting it Saturday. It was disappointing.

I've been a big fan of the original "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride at Disney World since I was a kid and loved The Curse of the Black Pearl. Dead Man's Chest was good but not as good as the first movie. This one had lots of action and was well produced like the first two but the story just got stupid.

It was a chore to watch in parts and I kept thinking "c'mon, c'mon get to some good stuff". Especially during the scenes in Davy Jones' locker and in the brig with the multiple Jack Sparrows. Those were boring and too artsy.

The first movie was a fun swashbuckler...At World's End wasn't. The plot was convoluted and it relied too much on the supernatural elements. Movies also get annoying when there's an unrealistic behavior like the pirate and East India Co. fleets doing nothing while the Black Pearl, Flying Dutchman and Endeavor fight it out at close range. The East India Co. fleet should have been protecting its flag ship at least.

On the plus side, I got to watch another film from my list of tall ship movies and did enjoy the ship battles. Those would've been even better on the big screen. And they left the door open for a fourth movie, hopefully that one will have a better story.

Drink up, me hearties. Yo ho!