Tame Game

Now, where would we be if we didn8217;t have the father of the nations-The United States of America? Lying somewhere in the slimy...

Now, where would we be if we didn8217;t have the father of the nations 8211; The United States of America? Lying somewhere in the slimy, presumably cold intestines of aliens or wriggling under the tips of daggers wielded by really, I repeat really, terrifying terrorists. Like Bollywood would find a song for a burp even, Ridley Scott and his clan would have America swat even mosquitoes out of the whole world.

So, this time round in Body of Lies Scott sends Roger Ferris Leonardo Di Caprio to Jordan as an undercover CIA agent to track a terrorist named Al Saalim down. Back in the Virginia headquarters of the CIA, his manipulative boss Edward Hoffman Russel Crowe tells Ferris around and keeps a tab on him. Enter Hani Salaam, chief of the Jordanian General Intelligence Department who joins hand with Ferris, much to the chagrin of Hoffman. It is then that the chase, to nab Saalim, picks up.

And for a generation which though the twin towers gave Bin Laden his precious 15 minutes of fame while going down, think again. Because terrorists, it seems, look the same everywhere 8212; from a watery Mission Istanbul closer home to a great American cine-dream 8212; turning Bin Laden a household name of sorts to the film fraternity across the world. And if you leave out the abundance of f-words in Di Caprio8217;s speech, it8217;s not very difficult to hear echoes of several Sunny Deol dhai kilo flicks in his last rant against the jehadis who misinterpret the Koran.

That is not to say that the film leaves you wondering if Gladiator was a fluke. It has a fairly-paced narrative, and since it8217;s a CIA-chase, not a Maharashtra Police-one, the thrills and the twists keep coming in quick succession. The director thankfully doesn8217;t play up the romance angle and leaves it more for occasional guffaws. And the as the camera feasts on the rusty, rocky topography typical to Middle Eastern countries, we can8217;t seem to have enough of sight-seeing.

Di Caprio, when he is not getting beaten up to jelly by all sorts of people, does a good job as an impressionable, slightly sentimental, enthusiastic agent mostly at odds with his boss. Russel Crowe, when he does manage to look up from the laptop he remains glued to mostly throughout the film, does complete justice to a crisp, manipulative, dismissive, know-it-all boss. Mark Strong makes Hani Salaam stand out with his intriguing physicality. The scenes which get the three together, with egos flying around, are delectable. But the sad news is, there8217;s so little of them.

Film: Body of Lies

Director: Ridley Scott

Cast: Leonardo Di Caprio, Russel Crowe, Mark Strong

Rating: zi zi zi zi zi zi zi zi zi zi

Running at: Inox Forum, City Centre, Swabhumi