For a better understanding of the title and for a deeper understanding of the actual movie, here are some facts that one should know before getting into the whole plot and intrigue thing.

Leonardo DiCaprio, 33, a three-time Academy Awards nominee for "The Aviator," "Blood Diamond" and "What's Eating Gilbert Grape,” had one of his greatest roles so far in “The Departed,” which got four Academy Awards, including some of the most important, Best Picture, Best Director for Martin Scorsese and Best Screenplay, William Monahan.

DiCaprio and Aussie hottie Russel Crowe first met more than 13 years ago, when they were still newbies in Hollywood, on the set of "The Quick and the Dead," also starring Sharon Stone and Gene Hackman.

Crowe quickly became appreciated and now has two Oscars in his pocket, for "The Insider" and "Gladiator," directed by Ridley Scott, a movie that permanently established him as a one of the best actors today. The two teamed-up again for "A Good Year" and "American Gangster" and Crowe calls their relationship "a unique situation," although he passed on the director's invites to star in "Black Hawk Down" and "Kingdom of Heaven."

Now you can see how all these characters are somehow connected. Actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Russel Crowe, along with director Ridley Scott and writer William Monahan have had their share of success paired-up in different combinations, so they probably decided to join their forces for something the world hasn’t seen yet, in matters of intrigue, as well as technique.

They were wrong. There’s nothing really new about “Body of Lies,” maybe except for the title, which seems misleading and almost inappropriate in this yet-another-movie-about the war.

The script is based on the novel of the same name by David Ignatius, a veteran journalist who covered the CIA and Middle East for The Wall Street Journal before joining The Washington Post, where he's an associate editor and columnist. It might have been a good story some twenty years ago, but now, as it finds itself pasted up onto our post 9/11 world, the plot just lacks essence.

DiCaprio plays CIA operative Roger Ferris, a man devoted to his country, up to the point where he would rather endure torture and still would not betray. But, as most romanticized secret agents, he is still innocent and trustful, while everyone tries to play him, manipulate and lie to him. He finds himself following orders that he doesn’t agree with, from CIA veteran Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe), some kind of master of puppets controlling the world with a few buttons and a large monitor on the wall.

“Body of Lies” is supposed to be a “timeless story about espionage,” when in fact it only manages to be a series of clichés. Cliché gestures, characters, situations. It’s not that it’s predictable. It’s just not as groundbreaking as it was intended to be.