Now I tend to like the films of Ridley Scott. He made Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, and American Gangster to name a few. He is a good action director. And generally his films are quality. Body of Lies will not be among that list.
I also like Russell Crowe. He is a solid actor, with very good performances in Gladiator and A beautiful Mind. And yes I did like him as Sid 66.7 in Virtuosity. He has a decent style and takes chances in his roles. This role will fail.
The reason why this film will not do well is not the action, or the acting. It won’t be the female fans swooning over DiCaprio or the guys looking for the overkill of explosions and bullets. It’s because like so many films right now, Hollywood is on an agenda – that being telling America we are bad.
Hollywood wants you to believe that the American Government is horrible. It is evil in fact they would say. Of course they never consider that in any other government they probably couldn’t make the diversity of films, nor get paid as much as they do.
That’s the best parts of the film. And in no part does the film directly describe the hate of America that I believe the film is based in. And I come to that conclusion by 1 simple statement
“The actor [Russel Crowe] said as a result of the film's exploration of the American government and foreign policy, "I don't think it will be very popular, but that’s never been part of my project choice process."
Foreign Policy. Yep that means this is another political commercial disguised as a movie. Like the films War, Inc. and Lions for Lambs or Redacted and several others this is just a way for Hollywood to promote Democrats next month. It’s a message with a soundtrack. And it will suck away your money without giving you what you went to see it for, entertainment.
I don’t mind a political message in a film. There are many films of quality with one. Apocalypse Now, Dr. Strangelove, 3 days of the Condor and many others are political and filled with messages. Even Blade Runner did so, but with style and not as the main point of the movie. They were films that entertained first and lectured a far distant second or third.
So you can waste your time seeing this film if you chose. But considering the cost of going to the movies, and the economy being shaky at the least, I prefer to watch the news for my political updates. And I’ll go to the movies to be entertained.
Wait for the DVD if you need a diCapro fix, but if you want to be entertained just avoid this.
2 comments:
Comment as found at Movies and Film Blog, where I am a contributing author.
movie fan Says:
October 19th, 2008 at 11:19 pm e
Apparently Ridley Scott enjoys working with Russell Crowe; and he likes to make movies that raise international awareness (i’m thinking Blackhawk Down and Kingdom of Heaven)… that at least is a good thing
That at least I would have to agree with.
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