Introducing Body of Lies

19 November 2008

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Body of Lies is Ridley Scott's new American CIA thriller based on the novel of the same name by David Ignatius that gets it's UK release this week.

CIA operative, Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) uncovers a lead on a major terrorist leader suspected to be operating out of Jordan. When Ferris devises a plan to infiltrate his network, he must first win the backing of cunning CIA veteran Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) and the collegial, but perhaps suspect, head of Jordanian intelligence.

Although ostensibly his allies, Ferris questions how far he can really trust these men without putting his entire operation - and his life - on the line.

Roger Ferris - Leonardo DiCaprio

Roger Ferris is the best man US intelligence has on the ground, a sophisticated operative negotiating while no one close to him makes it out alive. But Ferris is a man with no identity beyond his last blown cover, trusting his life to the dispassionate voice on the other end of a secure phone line.

But when an emerging terrorist called Al Salim causes a global threat Ferris' quest takes him across Iraq, Jordan, Washington and Dubai. To lure the terrorist out into the open Ferris will have to penetrate his murky world, but the closer he gets to the target, the more he discovers that trust is both a dangerous commodity and the only thing that will get him out alive.

Ed Hoffman - Russell Crowe

CIA veteran Ed Hoffman wages war from a laptop in his living room in the suburbs, dictating Ferris' movements even as he dodges bullets on the ground.

Hoffman is on the trail of an emerging terrorist who has orchestrated a campaign of bombings while eluding the most sophisticated intelligence network in the world.

Hani Salaam - Mark Strong

Hani Salaam is the head of the Jordanian General Intelligence Department, or GID who tells Ferris to never lie to him.

Hani recognises one of the men living in the Al Salmin safehouse that Ferris has under surveillance as a man he had known for years named Karami and he takes him out into the desert and coerces him into working for Jordanian intelligence and he is shamed and surprised when Hani does not kill him but lets him ride away on his bicycle).

Hoffman asks Hani to hand Karami over to the CIA, most likely to interrogate him but Hani refuses, having earlier told Ferris he does not believe in torture.

Aisha - Golshifteh Farahani

Ferris meets Aisha, a nurse, when he is bitten by dogs in pursuit of a suspected terrorist. The pair find themselves falling in love until Aisha is kidnapped.

Body of Lies is released 21st November

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw