On DVD and Blu-ray February 17, 2008

By Kit-Kat

I never saw the fascination with Leonardo DiCaprio over the years. He just didn't do a thing for me and I always found his acting to be nothing of the special sort. When I watched Blood Diamond I had to take a second opinion since he seemed to be maturing into an actor that I could appreciate. When I heard about Body of Lies and how everyone was talking about him in it I figured I should give it a shot and see if this new DiCaprio was going to be more than a fly by night change.

DVD Synopsis

The CIA's hunt is on for the mastermind of a wave of terrorist attacks. Roger Ferris is the agency's man on the ground, moving from place to place, scrambling to stay ahead of the ever shifting events. An eye in the sky - a satellite link - watches Ferris. At the other end of that real time link is the CIA's Ed Hoffman, strategizing events from thousands of miles away. And as Ferris nears the target, he discovers trust can be just as dangerous as it is necessary for survival. Leonardo DiCaprio (as Ferris) and Russell Crowe (as Hoffman) star in Body of Lies, adapted by William Monahan (The Departed) from the David Ignatius novel. Ridley Scott (American Gangster, Black Hawk Down) directs this impactful tale, orchestrating exciting action sequences and plunging viewers into a bold spy thriller for our time.

Check out a Movie Clip!

After watching the movie my verdict is still out on DiCaprio. He just doesn't pull off the hard core agent man for me and the look was just off. He's getting there, but just not quite yet. I cannot say I was over thrilled with the movie, it was hard for me to follow and the locales hopped around so much it was more bewildering than an old Alias episode as to where he was all the time. Russell Crowe parading around as a dad with a phone to his ear directing CIA business was rather weird. I guess after watching the other movies my mind set was just not where it needed to be to appreciate the full undercover ops that this movie pushed along. I did get a kick out of the side romance between DiCaprio and his nurse (the man is so accident happy in this movie I'm surprised he could move). The inter-racial stress was palpable and probably the most engrossing aspect of the movie.

My review copy of a regular DVD didn't have any special features to speak of and so I have a hard time recommending this version is worthy of owning. As I understand there is a two disc version that does have features so I would have to lean towards that one.

The movie wasn't a total loss to me, it had some good scenes and while it wasn't my cup of tea I am sure spy lovers will really get into all the cross and double cross that this movie offers up.

BUY THE DVD!