BOTTOM LINE: Director Ridley Scott has delivered another strong, detailed, visual film experience, this time exploring the gritty operational nature of America's war on terrorists, with strong performances by Leonardo Dicaprio and Russell Crowe.

THE GOOD: "Body Of Lies" explores territory that hasn't really been covered in any recent big Hollywood films (at least recently); Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) is the man in charge at the CIA who is executing operations against terrorists remotely from America, with his contact on the ground in the Middle East, Roger Ferris (Leonardo Dicaprio) given the task of gathering intelligence and executing any operations as required. The problem for Ferris is that Hoffman does not tell him everything he needs to know and as a result, Ferris' legitimate attempts to draw out informants and work with local authorities and spy agencies become derailed by Hoffman's blunt interventions. These countries are all working together to catch the leader of the terrorists, Al-Saleem (Alon Abutbul), who is elusive because he never claims credit for his attacks. What makes this film so engaging, aside from the astute level of detail afforded in the technology and operations presented, is the thematic ground this film covers. Hoffman's opening speech about how the "enemy" has adapted to the new world of technology by abandoning that technology and then disappearing is very insightful, least of which being how these terrorists are constantly able to thwart authorities by not being traceable as they don't use technology. There is hypocrisy on both sides. The film's first Act largely deals with Ferris attempting to draw out a man who wants to come to his side because he does not want to die in a martyrdom operation. As he says, "once you know too much about the operation, you are selected for martyrdom." On the flip side, Hoffman is running operations left, right and centre and clearly does not trust any one except for his own judgment and use of technology which ultimately does not work in the Final Act when Ferris, captured by the terrorists, is rescued by Jordanian security chief Hani (an excellent Mark Strong) using far more clever, and unsophisticated techniques. Perhaps the best line in the film which sums all of what the film is about is given by Hoffman towards the end of the film: "Why don't you want to stay here? There's nothing in the Middle East to like!", to which Ferris replies, "There's the problem right there Ed." Ridley Scott is a master of visuals and along with the strong content, he has created a very strong film in "Body Of Lies".

THE BAD: One of the side stories, and very clearly designed to make the stakes higher for Ferris' character, is his association with Iranian nurse Aisha (Golshifteh Farahani). Ferris, becoming more disillusioned with what he is doing as he goes along, begins making moves on Aisha and they slowly develop a relationship. Later, when Aisha is kidnapped by the terrorists to draw out Ferris, the entire last third of the film and the resulting capture of Al-Saleem all hinges on Ferris' drive to save her. Given how good an agent Ferris is, it seemed a little dumb for him to allow himself to be captured when he knew they would not keep their word. The 'love' story angle (for the lack of a better description) is contrived, and unfortunately, it's integral to the unfolding of the plot. Also, given the potential for conflict between Hoffman and Ferris, not enough is really done to flesh out that combative relationship. They bicker, but that's about it. Overall, the film has many strengths but these weaknesses do detract from an otherwise excellent film.