From September 11 films such as World Trade Centre and United 93 to such diplomacy-meets-military amalgams as not-bad actioner The Kingdom and the boring Lions For Lambs, Hollywood has finally decided to have its say on the issue.

Enter Ridley Scott, acclaimed director of such classics as Alien, Gladiator and Blade Runner, and such duds as Hannibal, GI Jane and recent Crowe-starring stinker A Good Year.

While neither a dud nor a classic, Body Of Lies is Scott's attempt to weigh into the war, and while it has its moments, it's weighed down by the same sense of self-importance and attempted masterpiece that tarnished his last film American Gangster.

DiCaprio gives a suitably hassled and gritty performance as Roger Ferris, a CIA man on the ground in the Middle East battling not only terrorists, but his only meddling US-based supervisor Ed Hoffman (Crowe) and the rightfully untrusting Jordanian security chief Hani (Strong).

The tangled plot is a look into various methods of surveillance and infiltration used by the US and their Middle Eastern counterparts on terrorist cells.

It's interesting to a point, but makes the film overly talky and the action sequences aren't quite exciting or memorable enough to make up for it.

The performances are suitably powerful though, particularly in the few moments DiCaprio and Crowe share the screen, but they're easily matched by Strong. Colosimo, in what could be a Hollywood breakthrough for him, is also good in a thankless role as a lowly CIA agent.

There are some good ideas and interesting statements, and overall its a fascinating insight into the War On Terror that is given a gritty and authentic edge by Scott's eye for detail.

But at the end of the day, Body Of Lies feels like a two-and-a-half-hour CNN news story and lacks the necessary punch to stir an audience already desensitised by seven years of a running global battle that's likely to rage for decades to come.