SY and the Body of Lies.

She's here again. :D Yes, SY's here for her 3rd visit to Abu Dhabi and this time, she'll be staying for slightly more than a week ... she's clearing her leave from work. WOO HOO!!!

Anyways, just like previous times, I made my way to Dubai International and picked her up before heading back to Abu Dhabi. Her first comment (in her exact words mind you) was that I've gotten 'rounder' and that this is the 'fattest' she has ever seen me. :p Blehhh ... I guess the extra large King Chicken Burger I had at Burger King on the way to the airport contributed to that. Hey I'm in shape OKAY!!! ROUND IS A SHAPE.

Reaching the villa at approx. 6:00 am in the morn, we slumbered till lunchtime. The aromatic whiff of briyani and fried fish seeped through my door and it gave us a good enough reason to jump outta bed and made our way to the kitchen. There, SY was introduced to the rest of my colleagues she hasn't met.

With food digested, we went to Marina Mall for a bit of window shopping before taking a number to be seated at Fuddruckers. It's beginning to seem like our staple diner each time SY's here for a visit. Anyways, we had the jumbo sized Appetizer platter, cream of mushroom and the 1/2 lb. Swiss Melt burger. Bought some groceries at Carrefour and Ikea before heading to the Cinestar Cinema where we caught Ridley Scott's latest offering in the form of 'Body of Lies'. Starring Leonardo Dicaprio and Russell Crowe, this spy drama set mostly in the Middle East tells the story of Roger Ferris (DiCaprio) who is the most gifted CIA agent who has ever glued on a beard in Iraq. He speaks fluent Arabic and he has martial-arts skills that James Bond would envy. Leo’s task is to hunt down deadly terrorist leaders in the hellholes of Jordan, Iran and Syria without blowing his cover or losing his fingernails. It’s a thankless job for this intense and earnest actor who has famously decided to devote the rest of his career to intense and earnest films. He wears a forbidding frown from start to end.

DiCaprio couldn’t have invented a more sober character, even by Scott’s high-minded standards. The real villain of the piece is Russell Crowe. He is a ludicrously demonic right-wing CIA chief and a remarkable spit of the whistleblower he played in The Insider. The tubby actor models the same short grey hair, reading glasses and unsuspecting wife, while orchestrating illegal missions from the comfort of an armchair in his glass CIA office.

DiCaprio’s glum loner is routinely spoon-fed wicked lies by Crowe. They invariably backfire when the beaten-up star needs a favour from the marvellously icy head of Jordanian intelligence, played by Mark Strong. “I have one rule,” Strong says. “Never ever lie to me.”

Oh and through a very visually descriptive manner, Leo 'lost' two fingers at the end of the movie. :p

It just feels kinda weird to be watching this movie here in the Middle East surrounded by them Arabs. There was a scene where Russell's line said "No one likes the Middle East" ... hmmm wonder how the locals took to that.

Overall, it was a good watch made much sweeter by the fact that with my HSBC plastic, I was offered a 'Buy 1 Free 1' ticket promotion. *wink*

Had a cuppa at Starbucks after which we were made to queue for almost an hour to get a cab back to the villa and called it a night.