Russell Crowe

I was expecting a fast-paced action flick. Sadly, the movie is far from it. Following the death of "King Richard the Lionhearted" (Danny Huston) during the Crusades, "Robin Longstride" (Russell Crowe) and four men come upon the aftermath of an ambush, and find a dying British knight who tells "Longstride" of a plot between France and a British collaborator -- a British knight. "Longstride" promises the dying knight that he will return the knight's sword to his father. But, when he returns to his homeland, he poses as the knight, and helps those in need. Based on centuries old legends from Great Britian, Robin Hood is far from the typical depictions we have seen over the years in popular media. In other depections, including a popular BBC television series in 2006, "Hood" is either arriving from his journey home from the Holy Land or he has been back for some time, and already declared an outlaw. This movie is focused more on the events leading to the title character becoming the legendary "Robin Hood". But, unlike other depictions I've seen, this one is not a strong representation of the legendary outlaw. The first 75% of the film is unbearably slow I thought, and I noticed I was paying more attention to my computer (I watched it on HBO this afternoon) than the television. To me, the scenes between any fight scenes just lagged and had poor development for the characters. It appears that those behind the scenes relied on the audience already knowing the characters, and gave them little to no development. They introduced some new twists with the characters, which worked fairly well, but they were just not presented in an interesting way I thought. I felt little to no chemistry between the characters, especially between "Marion" (Cate Blanchett) and "Longstride". All the main players are there, but they were one-dimensional in my opinion. None of them stood out. One thing I noticed is that non-British actors had a terrible time with the British accent. Sometimes they sounded British, while other times, their accents sounded Irish or even Scottish. It was very obvious that the dialect coach hired to help the non-British cast members failed in his or her job. It got quite confusing at times when I heard the wrong accent. Probably because they were working with a well known story, the movie is pretty predictable. The actors in this movie failed at attempting to make their lines believeable, which didn't get them out of the one-dimensional feel I was getting from them. The worse of the characters had to be "King John" (Oscar Isaac), who was absolutely horrible. Isaac's performance was uneven, and came off as trying to be comical when he most likely wasn't trying to be that way. Cinematorgraphy wasn't that great either, but was slightly better during wide angle scenes during battles. There were no bright colors in the scenery, nor wardrobe. It was

BEST. Western. EVER.

I read the book and then the movie came out and the movie was in my head all the time. but now i love this movie way a go leonardo Dicpario

The intrigue, conspiracy and drama present in this movie are off the charts. It's truly an intelligent film that captivates from start to finish. I didn't particularly like the final twist but it all makes sense. On a structural note, I find it ironic that the crusading media is portrayed as the constant moral compass and is the hero of the film when, in real life, journalism is now all about the presentation of different levels of liberal falsities. As for the performances, Russell Crowe and the ENTIRE cast are simply superb... everyone is top level talent on the top of their game. I can't remember a recent movie where the supporting players are this good. Jason Bateman, Jeff Daniels and even Helen Mirren have very small roles but all have a huge impact on the film. Affleck and McAdams do a great job as well.

If you want to read more about BODY OF LIES, check out the MovieRetriever.com review in the BARKS WITH BITE blog by clicking HERE!

although I rate the film 4 doggy bones I would have love to see more action and complications. Denzel was great as usual, he's so #!@%*# sexy!

This is maybe the best western ever to not include Clint Eastwood. In fact, it beats some Eastwood ones (3 Mules for Sister Sara, I'm looking at you). The movie starts out very well done, but the ending brings it all back home. A classic on the level of the greatest movies in the genre.

Denzel dazzles in gangster, a gritty tale of drug trafficing during the vietnam war. Lookout mob, here comes Mr. D!

Terrific action movie that entertains without trying to be historical (some of the characters are historical of course, although the movie does not attempt to make them realistic to their historical selves). A very engaging movie and worth watching!

Not a bad film, but book was far better. Good props and filmography.