Much harder to see coming is the film’s denouement, but that’s only because of its extreme silliness.
Comment
03/31/09
Traitor (2008)
61
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:157
Fresh:95
Rotten:62
Average Rating:6.1/10
Consensus: Despite another reliable performance from Don Cheadle, Traitor suffers from too many cliches and an unfocused narrative.
Theatrical Release:27-03-2009
Synopsis: TRAITOR is writer/director Jeffrey Nachmanoff's powerful rumination on post-9/11 foreign affairs wrapped up into a taut contemporary spy thriller. Balancing the film's sometimes conflicted... [More]
Starring: Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Said Taghmaoui, Neal McDonough
Director: Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Reviews for Traitor
A certain interest resides in the film's even-handedness.
03/31/09
As the eponymous terrorist, Cheadle makes a big impact without too much noise.
03/28/09
Top CriticTraitor 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.
03/28/09
The result is an absorbing, old-fashioned drama without the gung-ho rhetoric you might have expected.
03/28/09
A globe-trotting conspiracy thriller that is a little too complicated for its own good.
03/28/09
Traitor has its faults. It’s overlong, contrived in parts and ultimately resorts to some predictable tactics. The irresistible question is whether the US would be making films like this if 9/11 hadn’t happened.
03/27/09
Strong turns from Cheadle and Pearce elevate an ambitious suspenser with a keen eye for the duplicities that propel the War On Terror. The risible ending, alas, is pure wish-fulfillment hokum, while the solitary female character is barely a cipher.
03/27/09
More carefully measured than many of its American contemporaries, Traitor doesn’t match the heights of Syriana, but sits comfortably above, say, The Kingdom for mapping out the complexities of its issues .
03/27/09
Top CriticOnce the pieces fall into place, it loses momentum, meandering towards a contrived climax in which all ambiguity is swept aside and the forces of righteous democracy prove reassuringly triumphant.
03/27/09
Top CriticThe moral maze is not quite as murky as it should be, a suspicion that we may have misjudged the hero whisks the film back into the realms of fiction, and detracts from the issues it raises.
03/27/09
Top CriticSome well-meant but fantastically flaccid and perfunctory gestures of friendship towards the Muslim world are the foundation of this empty thriller.
03/27/09
Top CriticThe mounting fear and isolation of the Cheadle character puts us in an interesting place: the war on terror is reconfigured as a tussle of the soul.
03/27/09
Top CriticGlobetrotting conspiracy thriller which moves at a fair old pace, blending action with a complex storyline.
03/27/09
Tense, intelligent and quite moving, it's a meaty thriller filled with characters painted in refreshingly complex shades of grey.
03/27/09
It was the fine performances from Cheadle and Pearce which really grabbed his attention.
03/27/09
Top CriticClick to read the article
03/27/09
Top CriticBefore it reverts to standard thriller tropes, this tale of an Islamic double agent takes a more thoughtful attitude to East-West relations than one might expect.
03/27/09
It isn’t often that you see a thriller about international terrorism as even-handed as Jeffrey Nachmanoff’s Traitor.
03/27/09
Despite some strong performances and the occasional good moment, Traitor never quite gets the tone right and is ultimately undone by an unintentionally laughable climax.
03/27/09
Latest News for Traitor
January 04, 2009:
This double or maybe even triple agent dude decidedly favors a kind of 'this hurts me more than it hurts you' scorched earth policy, a mentality not exactly conducive to cozy plot resolutions. 
More...
January 03, 2009:
This double or maybe even triple agent dude decidedly favors a kind of 'this hurts me more than it hurts you' scorched earth policy, a mentality not exactly conducive to cozy plot resolutions.
More...
December 30, 2008:
This double or maybe even triple agent dude decidedly favors a kind of 'this hurts me more than it hurts you' scorched earth policy, a mentality not exactly conducive to cozy plot resolutions.
More...
December 18, 2008:
Five Favorite Films with Don Cheadle
In last August's Traitor, Don Cheadle took on the challenge of tempering a Bourne-like action hero with the moral ambiguity of real world concerns: namely, terrorism and the... More...
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