Movies
Screenwriters: Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Starring: Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Saïd Taghmaoui
Running Time: 114 mins
Certificate: 12A
Traitor is a reasonable effort at merging the thriller genre with an exploration of religious fanaticism, yet it fails to fully deliver on either front. A cracking performance from Don Cheadle and plenty of intrigue about the central character's true nature can't quite compensate for an absence of tense set pieces or not scratching further beneath the psychological make-up of people prepared to die for their cause.
Curiously derived from a story by Steve Martin, the twisting plot goes some way towards making amends for the atrocities of his Pink Panther franchise. It centres on straight arrow FBI agent Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) heading up the investigation into a dangerous international conspiracy, with all clues leading back to former U.S. Special Operations officer, Samir Horn (Cheadle). As the body count mounts, Clayton must face a man who has turned against the country he once served.
The first half of the movie is propelled by Cheadle's mesmerising performance, packed full of ambiguity and humanity despite the attacks he helps to carry out. It's an engaging guessing game to work out whether he really is a bona fide terrorist, with the many narrative turns quickly shifting our opinion back and forth. But once the central mystery is resolved, the movie stumbles along a predictable path until a resolution that pleasingly packs one final twist into the mix.
Frustratingly, the underused Guy Pearce isn't given enough dramatic meat with his character, playing nothing more than a one-dimensional 'straight down the line' agent. This underdevelopment also affects the treatment of key themes throughout. It's certainly interesting to see the wannabe terrorists not being portrayed as the kind of 'durka, durka' screaming mentalists that Hollywood often stereotypes them as (something memorably spoofed in Team America: World Police), but there's not enough exploration of their normal lives beyond their meticulous religious devotion and preparation for the big day.
Traitor is undeniably an intelligent, watchable thriller that wisely steers clear of racial stereotyping, yet manages to fall short of delivering a wholly satisfying cerebral or visceral experience. Nonetheless, seeing Don Cheadle showcase his talents in a rare leading role scores the movie serious brownie points.
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Cynthia, on October 22nd, 2009
I thought the film had a good idea, but needed fleshing out. The plot, for example the leak that was never fixed much less given the respect of a raised eyebrow, had too many holes for it to be satisfying. Lacking humor, an action movie needs coherence and tension par excellence.
I thought the film had a good idea, but needed fleshing out. The plot, for example the leak that was never fixed much less given the respect of a raised eyebrow, had too many holes for it to be satisfying. Lacking humor, an action movie needs coherence and tension par excellence.
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i think the movie is owsome...don cheadle play his role wellfuly....it tells the true picture of islam