A taut and topical thriller that attempts to add a human dimension to the fast-paced and often explosive action.
Comment
11/07/08
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
Cheadle can do pretty well anything, and in this film, he often has to.
11/07/08
The Traitor manages to get right is what so many other post-9/11 films got wrong: it does not confuse criticism of American policy with an attack on American ideals.
11/07/08
The Koran is part of the battleground for the film's moral compass, and while it may overshoot the average multiplex goer's comfort zone for a spy movie, it engages on a serious level
10/31/08
Traitor or Patriot? Terrorist or hero? The answer is subjective and what I like about this complex drama is that we become party to both sides.
10/31/08
As an espionage thriller, Traitor delivers. But the movie does so in a realistic way.
10/18/08
Traitor is filled with more surprises and originality than last year's much ballyhooed Michael Clayton and Don Cheadle deserves much of the credit.
09/27/08
Sure, it's as predictable as a Vegas magic show, but it can be a fun ride.
09/19/08
If you can overlook the stereotypes (which I fear many Americans won't even notice as such), Traitor provides an entertaining evening at the movies.
09/19/08
Don Cheadle, heart sewn to his sleeve, is badly miscast in this war-on-terror thriller.
09/15/08
While the film appears at first to be complicating the definition of "traitor," it's not long before the potential meanings are reductive and literal.
09/12/08
Appallingly cynical...desires to appeal to the biggest possible audience while offending nobody. Which means, inevitably, that it has something to offend everybody.
09/10/08
TRAITOR starts with the complexity and credibility of a John LeCarre spy story and transforms itself into an action thriller of the Frederick Forsyth mold.
09/10/08
There's a line in the movie where someone says, I just want the truth. The truth? Traitor is so complicated I have no idea what it's trying to say.
09/06/08
The mix of high-minded politics and slowly ratcheting tension pays off, as "Traitor" uses brainpower to generate its thrills.
09/05/08
A film that aims to examine Islam in order to separate the true believers from those who have hijacked it for terrorism. (Sound boring? It's also a taut thriller.)
09/05/08
Apart from the performers, and some atmospheric photography by J. Michael Muro, the movie is a conflicted muddle.
09/05/08
Even viewers burned out on talk about politics and war will be queasily engrossed by conversations inside Samir's cell.
09/04/08
The movie moves swiftly and purposefully enough to briefly distract from its own hackneyed conventionality. But disappointments and doubts can’t be held off for long.
09/04/08
Don Cheadle and Guy Pierce are at the top of their acting game
09/03/08
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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