The war on terror has changed. The allied forces have the weapons and the technology to tap any telephone conversation and then level the building it took place in. The terrorists have countered this by shunning technology and reverting to communication through human interaction. They have taken the war onto the streets and integrated themselves into the community, serving only to expose the vulnerabilities of the infidels. When a new Al-Qaeda cell emerges, letting off bombs in Manchester and then Amsterdam, CIA field agent Roger Ferris, on the ground first in Iraq, then in Jordan, must flush the terrorists out of the woodwork by any means necessary. He speaks the language, knows the culture and the people, but when his superior, division head Ed Hoffman back in the US, starts interfering with his game plan, Ferris finds himself exposed and alone on the front lines of a global conflict.

Body of Lies marks the fourth collaboration between director Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe, after the immensely successful Gladiator and American Gangster, and the rather less-than-impressive A Good Year. Yet again, Crowe immerses himself completely in his role, this time as shifty CIA division head Ed Hoffman. Representing the Republican administration’s attitude towards the war on terror, Hoffman is secretive and deceptive, focused only on winning – and if possible, taking the credit – regardless of the collateral damage he leaves in his wake. From the relative safety of Langley, Virginia, Hoffman liaises between his highly equipped surveillance teams and his ‘man on the ground’, field agent Roger Ferris, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. The juxtaposition of Hoffman’s working from home, directing covert operations by telephone, with his herding his children back and forth from school only serves to highlight his detachment from the situation in the Middle East. Ferris, the man in the trenches, the soldier with blood on his hands (not always his), is the voice of humanity and compassion, even as he executes captured colleagues so they are not tortured or executed for leverage.

DiCaprio is getting increasingly comfortable in his new found niche playing highly strung, determined action heroes, and brings the same hard-fought earnestness and vulnerability to this project as he did to Blood Diamond and The Departed. However, his role as Ferris is much the same as his role in Scorsese’s Infernal Affairs remake, with Ferris coming perilously close to being Billy Costigan with GPS and a Farsi phrase book. He even argues into his mobile phone in the same way – although that could be blamed on screenwriter William Monahan, who penned both projects, as much as anyone else. As encouraging as it is to see DiCaprio finally tear himself from the cover of Smash Hits magazine and project his undeniable talent onto more adult tough-guy roles, the danger is that he will slip into a rut and regurgitate the same double-crossed weaselly punch bag for the rest of his career.

On face value, Body of Lies might seem a project better suited to Ridley’s younger brother Tony Scott, who has previously shown a kinetic aptitude for these tech-based thrillers. Having said that, Ridley has proved his even-handedness when dealing with the Middle East in Kingdom of Heaven and the military in Black Hawk Down. Despite the script slipping in the final act, Body of Lies is for the most part an intelligent and worthwhile action thriller. It showcases a couple of quality performances from Crowe and DiCaprio, while relaying the same messages about fundamentalism we have heard numerous times before. Not all Muslims are bad, but the evil ones are very good at manipulating their own people into sacrificing themselves, and when they refuse to wear uniforms it is hard to tell them apart. More tellingly, however, the film says the same things about those leading the war on terror.

James Marsh