My report

The Time Warner building, and the Rose theater on the 4th floor made for a wonderful venue. The theater was spacous, so even from the mezzanine level we had a good view. The film started around 6:30. The big guys (Russell, Leo, Ridley etc) were on the red carpet until then.

Before the film Leo spoke with us from the stage about his commitiment to the environment. He is an eloguent gentleman. He then said enjoy the film, and the really neat credits started to roll. It was a wide gigantic screen with surround sound that sometimes just blew you away.

Body of Lies is a fast moving, never let up ride though the dark and devious world of spies and terrorists. It starts of with a bang up car and shooting chase involving Leo and keeps going from there. Ridley prefectly captured the chaotic world of the Middle East, the heat, and the danger.

I came to look forward to Russell as Ed Hoffman. He humorous take on the CIA chief and his dealings with Leo as Ferris, a CIA operative, provided a welcome respite from the violence in the rest of the film - though Hoffman himself had a lot to do with some of that violence.

I spent a lot of the film hunkered down in my seat with my eyes closed and my ears stopped. Be warned, there are a few scenes that take a strong stomach to watch. The lead up to one of those scene gave Russell a chance to show us what he can do with just his eyes. He was, till he lost sight of Leo from the drone plane, mostly witty and smiling. But when his contact was lost, you could see the sadness and worry in his eyes. All he said was "We lost him," but his eyes told a diffferent story.

The supporting actors were top notch. I particularly liked Mark Strong as the Jordanian head of sucurity - he was always impeccably dressed, and polite, even when meting justice to some poor terrorist that had the misfortune to get caught. His manner was ubane and elegant, but his eyes were the eyes of a killer.

The young Iranian actress, Golshifteh Farahani, playing Leo's love interest, was a luminous presence on the screen and later, in real life at the post film party.

I won't give away anything more about the movie. See it for yourself, but "fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy ride!"

When we left the film, there was Russell, looking fit and handsome, ambling along toward us. He greeted our crowd warmly, and then took us into the after party.

It was great fun spotting some of the actors from the film, and hearing all the accents around us. It was a truly international gathering. We ahd a few laughs there. At one point, my daughter sat down on a nearby ottoman. A woman came up to her immediately and said that only the "talent" could sit there. I always thought my daughter WAS talent, but apparently not there.

Russell had to talk business with executives most of the time we were there, but I did get a chance to get a wave and a wink as we left.

We had, altogether, a memorable time, and can't thank Russell enough for everything he continues to do for us.

Also, thanks as always to Keith - and a virtual hug to bodguard Terry, whom we had met in DC during our State Of Play visit. He kept a watchful eye on his charge.