Body of Lies

Body of Lies clearly has ambitions to be another Syriana, with all of the latter film's intelligence and resonance. Unfortunately, it's hamstrung by some clunking plot mechanics, especially a romantic subplot that's crowbarred in merely to set up the ending. Ridley Scott's hyperactive visual style is present and correct, sometimes distractingly so. Equally distracting is Russell Crowe's tic of lowering his head and peering over his spectacles. Having said that, he is always a wonderfully watchable actor, even when the performance is dialled right down, as is the case here. The film isn't a complete write-off. Mark Strong is terrific as the head of Jordanian intelligence, faced with never-ending American arrogance and duplicity. The appalling consequences of American machinations are illustrated by the inevitable fate of an innocent Arab architect set up to look like a terrorist leader in order to lure out the main target. It's fitting that the climax revolves around the Jordanians taking a leaf out of the CIA's book - with far more effective results.