Body of Lies has a story line about the infiltration of a terrorist cell that ends at the movie's midpoint, then embarks on what amounts to a new movie about "Ferris," played by Leonardo DiCaprio, and his own mission to draw out a terrorist mastermind by inventing a rival gang of thugs.

This shell game of deception among Ferris, Hoffman, and the Jordanian chief is hard to follow in detail but easy to predict the outcome.

In relative terms, Body of Lies is good CIA up-to-date entertainment.

It's a serious look at the war on terrorism as a CIA agent and his handler lock horns on operational procedures.

You can tell it's serious, Leonardo DiCaprio is sporting facial hair and Russell Crowe gained weight for the role.

The film is lush on location and disturbing with its Big Brother overhead drone footage, but it's just another movie showing the mechanics of futility, and -- in the end -- just another spy film with no pay off.

I was disappointed in the movie Body of Lies, a shady tale about CIA double and triple crosses in the war on terror in the Middle East.

The picture is arranged as a series of discredited missions with the CIA chasing a high-ranking terrorist.

The overall look of this film is muddled and jumbled, in my view, and the thing it lacks is a story that makes it feel personal.