Body of Lies

A CIA agent in the Middle East (Leonardo DiCaprio) works with officials in Amman, Jordan, to bring down a shadowy terrorist mastermind; soon he begins to wonder if others in the operation, including his supervisor back in the States (Russell Crowe), are telling him everything he needs to know. Director Ridley Scott and writer William Monahan, adapting David Ignatius’ novel, turn out a taut action thriller with a keen eye for the furtive work on the front lines in the war on terror. Monahan’s script has twists and turns that can cause trouble if the director bobbles the ball, but Scott has few peers at this sort of thing. He gets the expected first-rate work from DiCaprio and Crowe, plus a surprise: a genuinely star-making performance from Mark Strong as the urbane, crafty head of Jordanian intelligence.