"Body of Lies" is a prime example how cell phones in action movies work to strip away suspense and interest regardless of how many gun battles and explosions are on display.
Leonardo DiCaprio plays Roger Ferris, a CIA super agent globetrotting to any Middle East location that his snide D.C. boss Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) sends him to, by way of incessant cell phone discourse.
DiCaprio wears brown contact lenses to cover his Western blue eyes, and help convince us that foreign subjects might believe that he is of Middle Eastern descent.
Unlike most real life CIA ops, this one speaks fluent Arabic. Ferris, a mercenary for democracy, goes on bloody missions to draw out a terrorist mastermind that never claims responsibility for the civilian bombing strikes he incites in Western countries.
An ill-fitting love story gets mashed into the movie when Ferris falls for a hospital nurse (well played by Golshifteh Farahani) whose Muslim traditions put a serious damper on any fun they might have together.
Based on David Ignatius's novel, "Body of Lies" trudges through on the strength of Leonardo DiCaprio's habitually hardy performance, but you can't help being let down by the rest of the ridiculously bombastic movie.
(Warner Bros. Pictures) Rated R. 128 mins.
