- Title: USA: DiCaprio and Crowe spin tale of deceit in CIA spy thriller "Body of Lies"
- Date: 9th October 2008
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (RECENT) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEONARDO DICAPRIO ON MAKING THE FILM, "BODY OF LIES," SAYING: "From all accounts this stuff is really going on. This film is a depiction of modern warfare in the world of the CIA. It's sort of cutting edge in hat regard."
- Embargoed: 24th October 2008 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVAAO2NZV54CQ7AJTB327H63HMFT
- Story Text: Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe team up again in director Ridley Scott's spy thriller "Body of Lies," which speaks loosely to the facts of CIA involvement in Middle East counterterrorism efforts.
"Body of Lies," starring Russell Crowe and Leanardo DiCaprio, is spy thriller that takes its audience deep into the world of deception, lies and deceit. Set in the the Middle-East, the film offers a an unsettling view of the turbulent times we live in.
"From all accounts this stuff is really going on," DiCaprio told Reuters. "This film is a depiction of modern warfare in the world of the CIA. It's sort of cutting edge in that regard."
The film is based on Washington Post columnist David Ignatius's 2007 novel. DiCaprio and Crowe play two CIA agents searching for a top-ranking Islamic terrorist. DiCaprio's character Roger Ferris is a young field agent, who takes commands via cell phone from his boss Ed Hoffman, played by Crowe. As Ferris devises a plan to work his way into the terrorists' network, he finds that his progress is undercut at every step by his chief. Soon enough, Ferris begins to question if he can trust Hoffman without jeopardizing his life.
"The reason to put this film together is to entertain people,"
explained Crowe, who put on 50 pounds to play the role of Hoffman. "As an audience you come into the world of espionage and this world of deception where lying is the currency. If it stimulates a secondary thought process, where you associate things you have just seen with things that are going on around you than that is healthy and cool. But, that is only going to happen if you make a great movie to start with."
This is the first time since the 1993 western "The Quick and The Dead" that Crowe and DiCaprio are teaming up.
Despite the film's topical nature, DiCaprio feels "Body of Lies" is balanced in its approach.
"There are issues embedded in this film all over the place. It depends on the individual member of the audience to sit there and say 'Maybe I learned something or maybe I have a different viewpoint on the war on terror' that is up the individual. But we all had to check our politics at the door, because you can't make a movie where it pushes an agenda on people," said DiCaprio.
Directed by Ridley Scott, "Body of Lies" opens in North American theaters on October 10th. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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