Traitor (2008)

2 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Bomb Before the Storm

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Based on a story by none other than comedian Steve Martin, Jeffrey Nachmanoff's Traitor is remarkably politically centered. It sees human value in both sides of a conflict as well as the fallacies of both sides. And star Don Cheadle goes a long way in establishing these ideals with his remarkably smart, cynical, but assured line readings. But Nachmanoff -- a writer on The Day After Tomorrow (2004) making his second feature -- is less certain of his convictions, and so the movie goes soft from time to time, relying on sloppy tactics and conventional thriller elements when he thinks audience attention is lagging. Cheadle plays Samir, a Muslim who once watched his father get blown up by a car bomb. A former U.S. Special Forces man, he now sells detonators on the black market. He's caught and arrested in Yemen, where he meets Omar (Saïd Taghmaoui), a fellow Muslim who convinces Samir to join him in planning terrorist acts. Two FBI agents, Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) and Max Archer (Neal McDonough), try to catch him to prevent a major attack on U.S. soil. But of course, there's more than meets the eye. Traitor jumps all over the world, using pretty pictures from Sudan, Yemen, Marseilles, Nice, Halifax and New York. It borrows heavily from Reservoir Dogs (1992), The Fugitive (1993), Infernal Affairs (2002) and The Departed (2006), but it borrows well and some of these recycled ideas work, thanks also to a rousing score by Mark Kilian. But the real meat of the movie is its refusal to exploit a one-sided argument. Samir is genuinely baffled that these Muslims have allowed their religion to become so warped as to justify killing. In one excellent scene, one of Samir's colleagues explains his twisted reading of the Koran to justify drinking champagne; it's part of "blending in" for the cause. But the movie falters when Nachmanoff mistrusts the audience, which is often. He tries -- ineptly -- to deliver "thriller" elements. He shakes the camera during action scenes and points it randomly all over the place in an attempt to bring kinetic energy to static scenes. However, Cheadle comes away unscathed. His commanding performance is the first, best reason to see this. Archie Panjabi gets the thankless role as the "waiting, worrying" girlfriend. With Jeff Daniels.

DVD Details: Anchor Bay's DVD comes with a commentary track with Cheadle and Nachmanoff and two tiny featurettes, running a total of 10 minutes (with an option to "play all"). We get optional subtitles and trailers for this and other Overture features.

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