Traitor
November 22nd 2008 04:13
THE story may have been written by comedian Steve Martin, but Traitor is no laughing matter.
Don Cheadle is Samir Horn, a Sudanese-American who struggles to reconcile his Islamic faith with his adopted country’s stance against Muslim fundamentalists. When Horn is implicated in an extremist plot to bomb the US on an unprecedented scale, FBI agent Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) goes after him. While all of this is going on, a CIA operative (Jeff Daniels) with his own agenda is lurking in the shadows…
Cheadle does a good job keeping the audience guessing as to what his character’s motives are, and Pearce delivers an intense performance reminiscent of his great work in 1997’s L.A. Confidential. He deserves the kind of respect other Aussie actors such as Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman garner. Just as important to the piece is Saïd Taghmaoui, who plays a western-educated fanatic intent on carrying out jihad – he’s a complex character in a complex situation.
The film jumps around a bit and is perhaps slightly overlong at 114 minutes, but it’s a fairly solid effort from director Jeffrey Nachmanoff.
While I generally like Hollywood action thrillers and spy movies, I am getting slightly sick of them revolving around the War On Terror. Most people go to the movies to escape reality, and while I can appreciate a well-made film such as Traitor or Body Of Lies, I can’t help but yearn for a good, old-fashioned World War II yarn, or at least something that doesn’t try to mirror what I might see on CNN.
Don Cheadle is Samir Horn, a Sudanese-American who struggles to reconcile his Islamic faith with his adopted country’s stance against Muslim fundamentalists. When Horn is implicated in an extremist plot to bomb the US on an unprecedented scale, FBI agent Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) goes after him. While all of this is going on, a CIA operative (Jeff Daniels) with his own agenda is lurking in the shadows…
Cheadle does a good job keeping the audience guessing as to what his character’s motives are, and Pearce delivers an intense performance reminiscent of his great work in 1997’s L.A. Confidential. He deserves the kind of respect other Aussie actors such as Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman garner. Just as important to the piece is Saïd Taghmaoui, who plays a western-educated fanatic intent on carrying out jihad – he’s a complex character in a complex situation.
The film jumps around a bit and is perhaps slightly overlong at 114 minutes, but it’s a fairly solid effort from director Jeffrey Nachmanoff.
While I generally like Hollywood action thrillers and spy movies, I am getting slightly sick of them revolving around the War On Terror. Most people go to the movies to escape reality, and while I can appreciate a well-made film such as Traitor or Body Of Lies, I can’t help but yearn for a good, old-fashioned World War II yarn, or at least something that doesn’t try to mirror what I might see on CNN.
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