Body of Lies
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: October 10, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
57
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
21
Mixed:
15
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Body of Lies neither panders nor condescends. It involves current events and has a political viewpoint, but it overplays neither. Read full review
88
TV Guide MagazinePerry Seibert
The crisply photographed and edited Body of Lies reveals some ambition, for while it certainly works as pure entertainment, this tale of a good man trying to extract himself from an impossible situation offers some commentary on America's feelings about being in Iraq. Read full review
80
Village VoiceScott Foundas
Its generic attributes (and title) notwithstanding, Scott's film may be the sharpest of all the post-9/11 thrillers--and also the most purely entertaining--in the way it maps the vectors and currents of the modern intelligence-gathering game without losing us in its dense narrative thicket. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Body of Lies is a James Bond plot inserted into today's headlines. The film wants to be persuasive in its expertise about modern spycraft, terrorism, the CIA and Middle East politics. But its hero is a lone ranger who operates in three countries, single-handedly creates a fictitious terrorist organization, and survives explosions, gunfights, and brutal torture. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
The result is commendably non-West-centric, but no less sentimentally conceived. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Fascinating and flawed spy thriller. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
It's not like the screens are so flooded with decent movies that we couldn't use another, particularly a timely, clear-eyed thriller about the Middle East and the role of the U.S. therein. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
As good as it is in pieces, its protagonists are distancing, its story is tangled, its film-noir cynicism is oppressive and unglamorous, and it just doesn't leave us with the satisfying unity of the kind of great movie it wants to be. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Leonardo DiCaprio brings straight-razor reflexes and rooted emotion to the role of a deceptively rugged CIA man. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
It's a genre film - the action is fierce and nonstop - with a brooding undercurrent of unease that aims for the complexities of John le Carre. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
It may not be as much fun as old spy movies starring Cary Grant or more recent entertainments such as "Spy Game," directed by Ridley's brother Tony, but it feels all too accurate. Read full review
70
The New YorkerDavid Denby
The movie is smart and tightly drawn; it has a throat-gripping urgency and some serious insights, and Scott has a greater command of space and a more explicit way with violence than most thriller directors. Read full review
70
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
With its urgent post-9/11 context and often brutal violence, it seems off-key to describe Body of Lies as a nifty political thriller, but that's what it is. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Always crisp and watchable. But as the film's episodic story gradually reveals itself, it ends up too unconvincing and conventional to consistently hold our attention. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Ftrangely emotionless. There's little offered in the form of rooting interests or compassionate characterizations, making the film ultimately as ephemeral as its title. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
Doesn't have much new to offer in either style or substance. It's got the same glossy-gritty urban warfare sheen as "Black Hawk Down" and every other Third-World geopolitical action thriller of the last few years. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
The most interesting thing about this slick but frustrating picture is the way it puts Crowe’s Hoffman at the center of our mixed feelings. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia Puig
A tautly paced, well-acted espionage thriller with the requisite explosions and action sequences. Still, it ends up leaving the viewer rather cold. Read full review
63
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
The romance seems tacked on as a way to humanize this character; there's no reason the nurse would take up with a brash, secretive American. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
It's a generic, clunky title. The movie isn't quite as disposable, but it's not exactly memorable, either. Read full review
63
PremiereEric Kohn
Scott doesn't bring much to the table as an action director, and his keen storytelling abilities go invisible here. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
The film has one indelible asset: Mark Strong, who plays the Jordanian spymaster Hani. He's sleek and lounge-lizard sharp like a young Andy Garcia, and he could be bigger than Garcia. The Jordanian holds all the cards, and opposite two superstars, Strong is the only actor who holds the camera. Read full review
50
VarietyTodd McCarthy
A mostly formulaic approach that becomes more disappointing as the yarn unwinds. Read full review
50
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
As it is, the movie is a hodgepodge of borrowings and half-cooked ideas, flung together into a feverishly edited jet-setting exercise in purposeless intensity. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
For all of Ferris's desperate struggles, and for all the director's efforts to emulate the remarkable verisimilitude he achieved in "Black Hawk Down," his new film remains abstract and unaffecting. It's a study in semisimilitude, more Google-Earthly than grounded in feelings. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Lacks, a story that makes it feel personal. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Like Scott's last picture, "American Gangster," this is a little too slick and commanding for its own good; despite Crowe and DiCaprio's best efforts, their characters keep getting flattened by the steamroller narrative. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
Aside from a nifty new way to avoid surveillance in the middle of the desert, there's nothing here we haven't seen in many other movies - including "Spy Game," directed by Scott's brother Tony before 9/11. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
The sickly feeling that Body of Lies leaves at its conclusion isn't just about the brutality of its subject; it's the realization that real-life barbarism translates so easily into adrenaline kicks for the multiplex. Read full review
50
SlateDana Stevens
DiCaprio and Crowe, two supposedly high-wattage movie stars, are remarkably dull to watch together--perhaps because so many of their scenes together take place over the phone. Read full review
50
TimeRichard Corliss
In all, Body of Lies is a mixed bag of treats and trials, but it should be seen by audiences, and emulated and improved upon by other top directors. Read full review
42
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
It's a lot easier to follow than "Syriana." But intelligibility is about the only thing this international thriller has going for it. Read full review
40
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Excessively intricate and extremely dull, the latest example of a filmmaker giving us a disjointed, overlong movie that’s unnecessarily confusing to follow. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
It's like torture, though Body of Lies has nothing to spill. Read full review
40
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
Depressingly inert. Read full review
40
EmpireIan Nathan
For all the enthralling visuals and action, the film feels garbled. Read full review
33
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Most of this just seems, you know, so three years ago, so "Bourne" again. Read full review
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