New ‘Body of Lies’ Trailer is Better Than the Teaser

Posted by Nathan Deen (nathan@filmschoolrejects.com) on August 13, 2008

Warner Bros. has sent out the brand new, full-length trailer for Sir Ridley Scott’s highly anticipated follow-up to American Gangster, a CIA spy thriller titled Body of Lies. The release comes just over three weeks from the debut of the teaser, which was played in front of The Dark Knight. Not only does the movie have one of film’s most household names at the helm, but it also packs a lot of star power with juggernauts Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe (working with Scott for a third straight film) starring as the two main characters.

Body of Lies is based on the 2007 novel by Washington Post columnist David Ignatius. DiCaprio plays a CIA field operative named Roger Ferris who devises a plan to infiltrate the network of a major terrorist leader, suspected to be operating out of Jordan. Crowe plays CIA veteran and head of Jordanian intelligence, Ed Hoffman, who from the trailer appears to be in contact with Ferris and his tactics.

Have a look at the trailer below:

Without question, this proves once again that the full trailer is always much better than the teaser. It looks like we could actually have a really good international spy thriller on our hands here, a subgenre that all too often gets mishandled. However, the trailer may be giving too much away and now the film has predicitability going against it. It is clear that DiCaprio’s character isn’t getting along with Crowe’s. What happens when things go bad? Does Hoffman break contact with Ferris and abandon him, or is he part of some sort of conspriacy. Does he have some skeletons in his closet? I think it’s safe to assume that Crowe is playing an antagonist and whatever surprise twist Oscar-winning writer William Monahan (The Departed) may have had in store for us probably won’t feel like a surprise. I guess we’ll just have to play along.

Body of Lies looks to kick off Oscar-season with an Oct. 10 release date. With three Oscar-winning names and one multiple nominee attached to the picture, a lot of eyes will be on this one.

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