Body of LIes Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Choke
Even with the cult-led power of Fight Club, it took a long time for another Chuck Palahniuk adaptation to make it to the big screen. Finally, we were served Clark Gregg's Choke, a film that certainly relished its source material, but didn't inspire the rabid love of its predecessor. Still, it's a fun look into the life of a sex addict who fake-chokes in restaurants for money. Rent it.

Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon | Read Erik's Review

Body of Lies
Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe get to face off in this political thriller filled with CIA intrigue and infiltration. Leo's the out-in-the-field op uncovering word of a new terrorist leader, while Crowe guides via satellite -- but is that guidance helping or hurting the situation? Rent it on DVD or Blu-ray.

Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon | Read James' Review

Changeling
True stories made for successful cinema in this Clint Eastwood-helmed film about a woman (Angelina Jolie) in 1920s LA who's trying to find her abducted son. She gets a son, alright, but it's not her own, which triggers her own search for the ugly truth. As Kim Voynar said, Jolie "excels in a powerful performance." Buy it on DVD or Blu-ray.

Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon | Read Kim's Review

How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
Simon Pegg has made an amazing comedic name for himself over the last handful of years, fighting zombies and enforcing the law in a small and crazy town. But in comedies not created and whipped up by Pegg himself, they fall flat. Even if he is alienating the likes of Kirsten Dunst, Danny Huston, Jeff Bridges, Gillian Anderson, and Megan Fox ... we say Skip it.

Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon | Read Jeff's Review

Also out: Midnight Meat Train, High School Musical 3: Senior Year, Flash of Genius, Quarantine, Alien Raiders, Feast 3: The Happy Finish, Moving Midway, Screamers: The Hunting, Still Waiting

While catching up with the BBC miniseries State of Play (terrific stuff so far), I was discussing with a friend the only particularly troubling casting choice in the entire ensemble of the forthcoming American version: Russell Crowe. Though he was a last-minute replacement for Brad Pitt's role, that didn't prove nearly as bothersome as his street-smart Washington reporter persona and Farrah Fawcett 'do as evidenced in a recent trailer.

All kidding aside, my friend brought up a good point about Crowe's recent work -- she wished that he had stayed lean and hungry. It was a striking phrase, because I knew exactly what she meant and that it had nothing to do with his remaining Body of Lies body mass.

And so I turn the question to you lovely people -- what recent break-outs do you feel have already failed to live up to their promise, or have instead been a little less striking in their performances than one might've thought this time a year or two or ten ago? (Ryan Gosling's name keeps popping up in my head, but having just re-watched Lars and the Real Girl, I can't really knock him yet.)

I'm still reeling from Body of Lies' remarkable box office flameout. The $70-million, Ridley Scott-directed, heavily-advertised spy thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe opened three weekends ago to third place and 12.8 million dollars, and will struggle to get to $35 million domestic by the end of its theatrical run. What the hell happened? A B-grade Jack Ryan movie with Ben Affleck can make almost four times that, and a film with this sort of pedigree winds up dead on arrival?

The answer, of course, is that The Sum of All Fears isn't the proper point of comparison. Because it turns out that Body of Lies isn't much of a "spy thriller" after all. Writing Part One of this column back in the summer, I mused that Scott and screenwriter William Monahan were going to have a tough time making author David Ignatius's ultra-realistic depiction of CIA grunt work into compelling pop cinema. I was probably right, because they didn't really bother. They responded to the problem by making the film less crackerjack and more political; less exciting, perhaps, but smarter, sadder. In doing so, they threw their lot in with the sorry batch of Iraq War films rather than Jack Ryan. It was a bold choice that resulted in one of the best movies of the year – and a resounding commercial failure.

Politically, Ignatius' novel more or less kept its head down. There was certainly a sense that Roger Ferris, the protagonist played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the film, was frustrated with constant, counterproductive interference by his US-stationed superior Ed Hoffman (Crowe), but the subtext of this, if any, was soft: the problem wasn't any systemic defect but rather just that Hoffman was an insufferable micromanager. The book mostly concentrated on the fascinating (albeit not terribly cinematic) nitty-gritty of CIA field work in the Middle East.

There have been a number of moderate- to high-profile box office fizzles in the past few weeks -- 'tis the season, I suppose, though the flop ratio seems higher than average this year -- and this week adds a couple more to the list. First and most surprising is the tepid performance of Body of Lies, which couldn't leverage the presence of Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, or Ridley Scott to open to more than $13 million. I don't really get it: the marketing was action-packed and fairly ubiquitous (though a bit confusing -- people apparently had trouble deciphering the trailer), and I thought the star wattage would do more for the film. (On the other hand, Scott's A Good Year, which also starred Crowe, died an even harder death.) Is anything involving Iraq or the Middle East really that much of a turn-off right now? Or maybe anything perceived as serious? It's really a superb film, and one that benefits from the big screen; you should check it out before it vanishes.

Another addition to the list of big fat flops is Fox's City of Ember, which crashed and burned at number ten (10). I haven't seen it yet, but I'm a big, big fan of Gil Kenan's debut Monster House, and so was rooting for Ember. Unfortunately, I don't think anyone knew that it existed. The football drama The Express doesn't count as a flop, I don't think, since no one expected it to do much better than it did: $4.7 million in sixth place. People just couldn't bring themselves to care about this story again, though the movie isn't bad.

The weekend's hits were exercises in escapist frivolity, which might support one of my hypotheses regarding Body of Lies' failure. Beverly Hills Chihuahua held on to the top spot with $17.5 million, ensuring a sequel. And the low-budget Quarantine took second in a huge victory for Screen Gems -- a $14 million opening for a movie like this is gold.

The full list of estimates after the jump.

I found myself asking one simple question during Ridley Scott's Body of Lies, a well-shot, big-name intelligence thriller that sees Leonardo DiCaprio's CIA man caught up in action in the Middle East -- namely, what is Body of Lies for? I don't mean that in the sense of asking what it supports or believes in -- although, with the film's mix of Hollywood heroics and sneering cynicism, you're certainly left with that question -- but rather in the sense of asking what it is that Body of Lies means to accomplish or communicate. Part of the film feels like an attempt at a sprawling, globe-trotting story of realpolitik and moral complexity, in the mold of Syriana or Scott's own Black Hawk Down; other parts feel like Dolby-pumped slam-bang action, in the mold of Tony Scott's Spy Game or the Bourne Films. And some of Body of Lies feels like a weird, surreal workplace satire, with DiCaprio's on-the-ground intelligence agent fighting, fussing and feuding with his D.C.-based superior Russell Crowe; if you hate having your boss hover over your shoulder second-guessing you, imagine how it feels to have your boss looking over your shoulder second-guessing you from orbit via satellite.

Adapted from David Ignatius' novel by The Departed screenwriter William Monahan, Body of Lies follows DiCaprio's Roger Ferris through a series of run-and-gun intelligence-gathering missions that start in Iraq and travel the globe in the name of penetrating, and breaking, a terror ring operating on a global level. Ferris works for Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe, beefy and drawling), who runs his section of the CIA with a true believer's fervor. Speaking to a group of political staff and elected officials, Hoffman tries to get everyone in line by getting everyone scared: "Our world as we know it is much simpler... to put to an end than you might think." Ed knows that in an age of asymmetrical warfare, America's seemingly unsophisticated opponents have big advantages; you can't tap someone's phone if they don't have one, can't crack their e-mail if it doesn't exist.

Despite having six new wide releases last week, only Beverly Hills Chihuahua and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist cracked the top five. In its third week of release, Appaloosa expanded into an additional 1,031 theaters, allowing it to take the number five spot. Here's the top five.

1. Beverly Hills Chihuahua: $29.3 million
2. Eagle Eye: $17.7 million
3. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist: $11.3 million
4. Nights in Rodanthe: $7.3 million
5. Appaloosa: $5 million

Body of Lies
What's It All About: In this Ridley Scott film, Leonardo DiCaprio plays a CIA agent tracking terrorist activity in Jordan, with Russell Crowe playing the veteran agent who helps him infiltrate the terrorist underground.
Why It Might Do Well: This film reteams DiCaprio with William Monahan, the screenwriter behind The Departed, and the flick is sporting a 70% fresh rating at rottentomatoes.com.
Why It Might Not Do Well: This being an election year, there are already enough lies kicking around.
Number of Theaters: 2,500
Prediction: $26 million

There's a lot of cinematic power behind Warner Bros. upcoming political thriller Body of Lies: It's directed by Oscar-winner Ridley Scott (Gladiator), it's written by Oscar-winner William Monahan (The Departed), and it stars reliable talents / big-time movie stars like Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe. Based on the novel by David Ignatius, Body of Lies tells the story of a journalist who is enlisted by the CIA to help track down a suspected terrorist. That's only the sketchiest of plot synopses, but since I haven't read the book, I'd like to enjoy Body of Lies without knowing the whole story.

And we're very pleased to bring you the very first look at the official one-sheet for Body of Lies. (It's behind the jump!) The film hits theaters on October 10 -- and since it's a Ridley Scott film, you just know I'll be there opening night. If it's half as good as Mr. Scott's last "action" film (the stellar Black Hawk Down), then I'll be a happy guy. (Click here for the poster!)

The international trailer for Body of Lies has just arrived online, and the combo of Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio is enticing to say the least. Based on the novel by David Ignatius (and scripted by The Departed's William Monahan), Body of Lies tells of a former journalist (DiCaprio) who's hired by the CIA to track down an Al Qaeda leader in Jordan. The film was directed by Ridley Scott.

Cinematical's Eugene Novikov recently used Body of Lies as part of his From Page to Screen column, and on the book he says: "Body of Lies, the novel, is pitched as a spy thriller informed by the author's extensive experience in the field and knowledge of the way the CIA really operates. (The back cover offers a fawning quote from former CIA director George Tenet, claiming that the book is "fiction but reads like fact.") It's certainly intelligent, plausible, and sometimes exciting." The trailer seems to focus more on that "sometimes exciting" part, showing DiCaprio in all sorts of iffy situations, while his CIA boss (played by an overweight and somewhat unattractive Russell Crowe) rides his ass until something gives. Body of Lies hits theaters on October 10.

I dig it. Do you?

Zack Snyder wouldn't confirm it last month when he talked to Collider, but Coming Soon has now scored confirmation about which trailers Warner Brothers Pictures is tacking on to the next Batman installment when it hits next week on July 18.

Wonderfully and most importantly, is Watchmen. I can only hope that it shows some action, and a good look at the heroes (including Doc Manhattan), rather than a teaser that lays on more anticipatory torment. The next in the list is, fittingly, Terminator Salvation, which will give us a taste of Bale in the future, before the trailers end and he slips into the batsuit. Finally, there's Ridley Scott's Body of Lies.

Does this affect your moviegoing plans in any way? When I bought my midnight screening tickets for The Dark Knight a week or two ago, my friend and I had a whole discussion about screens -- do we see Batman in IMAX with no Watchmen, or see it on a normal screen and finally delight in the first teaser. We opted to skip the IMAX experience this time, but what about you? Do these trailers change your plans at all? Will you now see the film on a certain screen, or check out the movie earlier to see Snyder's eagerly anticipated trailer?