Body of Lies has begun filming
Posted by Matt Holmes
It’s with a little sadness on my part that Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott’s next team-up won’t be Nottingham. I loved the idea of Crowe as the ‘good’ Sheriff of Nottingham, or at least one who wasn’t as drawn out as blatantly evil as previous incarnations.
If Robin Hood ever existed, the saying goes he stole from the rich and gave to the poor. Well if your an honest rich man and he’s this outlaw who is taking away your hard earned money… then Hood was most definitely the bad guy.
However Nottingham would seem to be on hold for the time being as shooting has already begun on Body of Lies, a movie that will see him co-star with Leonardo DiCaprio for the first time in 12 years. The film is based on a novel by Washington Post columnist David Ignatius where a manipulative CIA boss (Crowe) teams with an operative (DiCaprio) to trap a deadly Al Qaeda leader by framing him with a false rumor to his people that the bomber is in cahoots with the U.S.
The movie basically is about turning Iraqi terrorists onto each other and as we’ve heard already, the movie is expected to be more than a little controversial.
Crowe is said to have filmed scenes 0n Friday in Annapolis before moving to Baltimore and then later Morocco. The scenes in Baltimore are said to fill in for Manchester (U.K.) and Munich.
Sounds like a terrific political thriller and Russell Crowe once again is the absolute master at picking movies and actors to play off. DiCaprio and Crowe will easily be as good as Bale and Crowe and with Ridley Scott finally looking as though he has turned to his best with American Gangster and with Nottingham on the horizon… there’s some really exciting Scott/Crowe team-ups in the future to look forward too.
source - coming soon
categories - Body-of-Lies, Movie News, Thriller
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Baltimore filling in for Britain and Munich? THAT’S a stretch! And while I’m always glad to hear about the next Ridley Scott movie (the man’s synonymous with “quality”) I have to say, he’s REALLY been helping Crowe’s alining career along, hasn’t he?
I mean Russell’s done more than anyone to kill his career, but Ridley seems to be making rehabilitating Russell’s standing in Tinseltown single-handedly. First, Ridely takes a page from his own overrated brother’s handbook –beg Denzel to do a movie for you once every few years because he’s always a draw for audiences helping lackluster directors (Tony Scott) and on-their-way-out actors (Crowe) alike– now he’s hoping Crowe will get enough of a boost from American Gangster that it will help him make a comeback. I love Ridley’s stuff, but this is nepotism, plain and simple for an actor who really ought not need anyone’s help.
Crowe’s a good-enough actor, but not so good that Ridley NEEDS to have him damn near every movie he’s made for the last seven years!
Crowe doesn’t “need” Scott, and Scott doesn’t “need” Crowe. They respect each other and like working together.
Besides Crowe is a terrific actor working with any director, as evidenced by the excellent 3:10 to Yuma, directed by James Mangold. He doesn’t always make the commercial choices, but no one in their right minds would say Crowe’s films Master and Commander or Cinderella Man were inferior films in any way. Big box office? No… but that’s not the fault of the people who made the films.
Matt… Nottingham supposedly will be Crowe and Scott’s next film, to begin shooting early 2008, after Body of Lies is in the can. Crowe mentioned it recently in an interview. Word in the trades is, that because of the possible SAG and DGA strikes, Scott will complete post production of both films after he films Nottingham. Obviously, anything can happen to disrupt the best laid plans, so stay tuned.
Matt, I’m so agree with you that Russell Crowe almost always made great choices in terms of movies selection. He’s pretty much picky with the scripts. Yes, I admit there were ups and downs in his career, mostly because of his “certain behaviour” off-screen. But Crowe is the main reason why I still want to go to movie theaters these days. LA Confidential, The Insider, Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, Master and Commander, Cinderella Man, 3:10 to Yuma… they’re all wonderful and brilliant entertainment! With one exception, A Good Year, of course. But the latter wasn’t so bad either. American Gangster would be awesome, I can’t wait for November. I would surely hope that there’ll plenty of good projects for Mr. Crowe in the pipeline. Not too excited with “Body of Lies” (pray to GOD that I’m wrong), and I certainly would wait with great anticipation of the Nottingham project. Big kudos to Mr Crowe!! He’s one of the BEST, no doubt.
Yeah I heard that too about Nottingham but I had a feeling Scott would be ready to take a break because he’s jumped from one project to the next over the last three years.
But your right, I never thought about the strike and that would make a quick filming start after Body of Lies likely.
“Crowe doesn’t “need” Scott, and Scott doesn’t “need” Crowe. They respect each other and like working together.”
I agree with the second part –Scott definitely doesn’t need Crowe. And I’m sure Scott likes working with the guy, but can you think of any director whose had the same actor in so many of their films without it being a franchise of some sort?
Crowe does have some talent, I said as much, but I can readily think of five other actors just as good as him who could fill any part he plays, and in many cases do so FAR better. Why isn’t Scott working with them? Because he “respects” Crowe? Glad to hear somebody does.
Brando he is not.
Crowe is one of the finest actors working today.
Other actor and director working together quite a bit in a non-franchise? How about DiCaprio and Scrocese?
I think the idea that Crowe needs Scott is downright dumb. How can you say that when Crowe has done fantastic work in Cinderella Man and A Beautiful Mind, both Ron Howard fans.
Arguably his best work is The Insider with Michael Mann, and some might say intead it’s LA Confidential with Curtis Hanson.
Besides, Ridley Scott’s work is FAR from flawless, The Matchstick Men, GI Jane, or Hannibal? Very very mediocre work, he is far from a consistent director.
* I meant to write Ron Howard films, not “Ron Howard fans”. :)
Call me crazy but doesn’t Crowe and Brando share some common traits like both bing attracted to intense and serious parts and both having reputations of being “difficult” off-screen actors.
JaySmack, you’ve been letting media-biased hoopla influence your opinion of Russell Crowe. Mr. Crowe “needs” no one to help his career. He is FAR from being “on his way out”!! Russell makes films he believes in. Yes, he is great friends with Ridley Scott, but he’s also great friends with other wonderful directors. He is the FIRST choise of many of them for serious films but he chooses only those that are serious films with depth and meaning. Even in his lighter type films, there has always been a undercurrent with a serious message.
Russell has made mistakes in the lime-light but using those mistakes as the measure to deny him the rewards of his GREAT talent just goes to show how shallow and two-faced Hollywood really is. Thank goodness there are directors who know real talent and integrity when they see it, and judge Russell for themselves. I guarentee that if Russell Crowe is in a movie, it’s going to be a wonderful movie.
has anybody here been to this movie’s screening yet and if so could you e-mail me at archer6749@yahoo.com and tell me everything you can about this movie. i’m dying to know
thanks
You might have to wait until the 10th October, 2008 when it’s released.