“Body of Lies” can’t simply get away with a bunch of renowned actors. And a clichéd plot does not help… at all. The film is a lie itself and the enduring espionage story it wants to depict has seen its apogee buried a long time ago.

Based on the eponymous novel by David Ignatius, the movie focuses on the punctilious C.I.A. field agent Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio), who is stuck in a thorny plot to hunt down a Middle Eastern terrorist leader who has been organizing various dangerous assaults in Europe.

However, Ferris makes a wrong move when he falls for an Iranian-born nurse, played by Golshifteh Farahani. And he goes even further. When the girl is abducted by terrorists, he offers to give in if she is released. Roger Ferris’ superior, Ed Hoffman, impersonated by Russell Crowe, who has supervised Ferris’ moves throughout his stay in Jordan, arrives in the Middle East to keep the exchange under observation, as the C.I.A. wants to find out where the terrorists intend to take Ferris and subsequently use him as a lure.

However, the terrorists don’t play the C.I.A.’s game and trick the members of the agency. In spite of the fact that the Americans benefit from technological advantages, they do not know what road to take and they move hysterically from one spot to another.

And so does the director. Ridley Scott spins from side to side, from Washington to the Middle East, from 24/7 surveillance centers to the street, from angry outbursts and scenes of cruelty to men shooting chaotically in the desert.

“Body of Lies” may aim to be a blockbuster, but, in fact, it is a film based on truisms. It is an everlasting story about clichés and Leonardo DiCaprio can’t save the day this time.