There are a few signs I use to know that fall is on the way. There's a crisp chill in the air. I have to put an extra blanket on my bed. The leaves turn colors. And Hollywood starts rolling out the big dramas featuring big name stars that are based around current political or wartime events. Ridley Scott's Body of Lies is the first of these kind of films this year, and fortunately for its audience, it's a pretty good one. The movie veers dangerously close to being a bit too complex and convoluted for its own good, but is engaging enough throughout to hold our attention.

Based on a 2007 novel by David Ignatius, Body of Lies tells the story of Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio), an undercover CIA agent working in the Middle East to capture a Bin Laden-wannabe named Al-Saleem (Alon Aboutboul), who has been responsible for various terrorist bombings in the US, Europe, and other places around the world. He's spent so much time behind enemy lines, Ferris has started to grow disillusioned with some of his superiors back in the US, particularly the man he constantly keeps in contact with via a headset, Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe), who usually watches Ferris' actions via various spy cameras that patrol the skies. Roger's current mission to trap Al-Saleem is to form an alliance with the head of Jordan covert operations, Hani Saalam (Mark Strong), and ultimately lure the terrorist out of hiding by targeting an architect by the name of Omar Sadiki (Ali Suliman), and setting him up as a radical Jihadist.

While there have been a lot of recent films covering the situation in the Middle East, this movie sets itself apart somewhat by having its lead hero actually sympathizing more with the foreigners around him, rather than the government he's working for. When we first meet Roger Ferris, he's been at this job for years now, and has obviously seen it all. He's tired of his superiors, especially Ed Hoffman, going against his decisions, and messing up his perfectly laid plans by instituting their own plan without his knowledge. He also strikes up a shy relationship with a pretty young local nurse named Aisha (Iranian actress, Golshifteh Farahani in her first English-speaking role), whom he first meets after she treats him for bites he received from some wild dogs while chasing down a suspect. Their relationship is obviously a guarded one, due to the way many of her people (including her sister) view Americans, but the movie does not dwell so heavily on this aspect that it ruins the sweetness of their relationship. In fact, their scenes together bring some much-needed lightness and even some humor to the film.

What stood out the most about Body of Lies for me is that it's not just a "message movie", here to show us the horrors of the Middle East. While there are certainly a lot of scenes that do just that (including a wince-inducing torture sequence late in the film), the movie makes sure to never lose sight of the humanity of its characters. I found myself drawn in, not only because of the capable performances of DiCaprio, Crowe and the rest of the cast, but also because I found myself generally interested in these people. So many movies like this sacrifice character personality for the message, but screenwriter William Monahan (The Departed) never lets the potential heavy handedness of the material overshadow those who are at the center of it. His script also expertly balances the complexities as more characters, more far off locations, and more plot revelations are piled on to the point that we think the whole thing might be reaching a breaking point. The movie expertly juggles everything and everyone within it so that while it may be complex, it is never confusing, nor do we ever find ourselves having to play catch up with the storyline.

And yet, as much as I found myself enjoying the film, I must also admit I have some reservations as well, particularly the lead performances by DiCaprio and Crowe. Don't get me wrong, they're quite fine, and as I mentioned earlier, very capable. But at the same time, these are not exactly memorable performances from either actor. The two actors come across the best during their more human scenes, when they are face to face with each other (rather than speaking to each other over a headset telephone-like device), or when DiCaprio's Ferris is spending time with Aisha. These moments with her allow DiCaprio to do something he doesn't get to do much in this movie, or something he hasn't done in a lot of his recent roles - Smile. While I admire him as an actor, I think he's starting to dig himself into a bit of a rut by only taking these very serious, heavy films. I'm not asking for the guy to rush out and sign on to the next Adam Sandler comedy or something, but I would really like to see him tackle some material that's a little bit lighter. The romantic moments he shares with Farahani are the most memorable in his performance, because he's the most open and charming during these scenes.

I'm not really complaining too much, though. Body of Lies works a lot better than I expected walking in, and is surprisingly free of a preachy attitude and heavy handedness. This is a thinking man's thriller that builds to a logical conclusion, and rewards the viewer for thinking all the way through, rather than having everything spelled out. Director Ridley Scott has looked past the message and the self-importance of the film, and given us something that are surprisingly rare in the many films just like it - Characters we can enjoy and get behind.

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