+ Most Deserved Flop of the Year
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| Two major stars are the sole attraction on this sombre poster for Ridley Scott's Body of Lies |
CIA agent Roger Ferris works to end a new Islamic terror group in the Middle East with the help of a big shot within the agency from back in the States.
Body of Lies is written by William Monahan (The Departed (2006)), based on the same-titled 2007 novel by David Ignatius (The Quantum Spy (2017)), and is the 18th film directed by English master filmmaker Ridley Scott (White Squalls (1996)).
The film starts out exciting enough with a dark dramatization of Islamic terrorism, although the group shown in the film may seem antiquated in our post-ISIS world.
But the problems for action-packed Body of Lies arrive soon after this introduction: Without scratching the surface of who the people in the foreign land who become evil terrorists are, the film relies primarily on floating as a tense star vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond (2006)) as field agent Ferris and Russell Crowe (Proof (1991)) as his cynical phone-line boss. But DiCaprio turns in a shallow performance as a frustrated pottymouth, who succumbs to a local nurse in a romance that we only get very little of in the otherwise very long and tedious action-thriller. And Crowe portrays another superficially drawn character; a preoccupied, headset-wearing father.
If we learn anything at all from watching Body of Lies, it is that the results are muddled, when one attempts to engage against evil in the Middle East. - So if you are tired of cacophonous news from the region from the everyday news, this film feels as anything but entertainment. I count it among the turkeys of Ridley Scott.
Ridley Scott: Prometheus (2012) or, Even Then, Space Eggs Were Bad News
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Robin Hood (2010) - R. Scott's grand film of the English legend
2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess
American Gangster (2007) - Great American - now black - gangster picture
A Good Year (2006) - Ridley Scott likes Provence
Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Blade Runner (1982) director's cut - Visual extravaganza, great SF
Alien (1979) or, Space Eggs Are Bad News
DiCaprio talks about his work on the film here
Cost: 67.5-70 mil. $ (different reports)
Box office: 115.9 $
= Big flop (1.65-1.71 times the cost)
[Body of Lies premiered 5 October (New York) and runs 128 minutes. Shooting took place in Morocco, including Rabat, Amman, Jordan, in Maryland, including Baltimore, Virginia and Washington DC from September - December 2007. Shooting in Dubai was refused permission for political reasons. Crowe reportedly gained 63 pounds for his performance, - which seems a highly dubious 'fact'. The film opened #3, behind holdover hit Beverly Hills Chihuahua and fellow new release Quarantine, to a disappointing 12.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it fell out of the top 5 in its second week and grossed a measly 39.3 mil. $ (33.9 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 9.6 mil. $ (8.3 %) and Spain with 7.5 mil. $ (6.5 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a a 3/4 star review, translating to three notches better than this one. The film made in excess of 23 mil. $ in domestic home video sales, which might change its status to merely 'flop' if added in, (and the lowest 67.5 mil. cost is taken to be the accurate number). Scott returned with Robin Hood (2010), again starring Crowe, a much bigger flop. Crowe returned in Tenderness (2009), and DiCaprio in Sam Mendes' masterpiece Revolutionary Road (2008). Body of Lies is rotten at 55 % with a 5.8/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Body of Lies?
