Traitor offers up one of the more maddeningly, gratifyingly complex lead characters seen in movies lately.
Traitor (2008)
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.
Rated: 12A [See Full Rating] for intense violent sequences, thematic material and brief language.
Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
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... 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 ideological heft is Don Cheadle, who turns in a smartly even-keeled performance as Samir Horn, a Sudanese-born, Chicago-raised former U.S. Army Special Forces operative. The action begins with a jarring prologue set in Sudan in 1978, where the young Samir witnesses the murder of his father by car bombing. Jumping swiftly to present day Yemen, Samir, in a dramatically ironic twist, is revealed as a mercenary selling explosives to Muslim extremists. But what is never completely clear throughout TRAITOR's numerous plot-twists is just where Horn's allegiances truly lie: is he an American spy infiltrating a Jihadist plot or a devout Muslim who has traded his sympathies with the West? When an arms sale runs afoul, Samir is jailed in a Yemeni prison where he befriends Omar (Said Taghmaoui), a ringleader of a terrorist organization that is being watched by the F.B.I. A bold prison break is hatched and the pair begins collaborating on a series of bombings throughout Europe. As Samir becomes embroiled in ever-escalating terror plots, it becomes clear that he is duplicitously playing both sides at growing danger to himself and the lives of innocent people. Cut with a breathless, war reportage-styled pace, TRAITOR is an action-packed, suspense-filled thriller whose seemingly equivocal ideological veneer can be summed up as: "In war, there are no winners." [More]
Starring: Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Said Taghmaoui, Neal McDonough
Starring: Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Said Taghmaoui, Neal McDonough, Alyy Khan, Jeff Daniels
Director: Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Director: Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Screenwriter: Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Producer: David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman, Don Cheadle, Jeffrey Silver
Composer: Mark Kilian
Studio: Overture Films
Reviews for Traitor
There's a terrorist around every corner in Traitor, to the point where you start wondering if "Steve Martin" is a pen name for Dick Cheney.
A fair number of recent, post-9/11 dramas have suffered from the same malady: research paperitis.
Traitor, a somber, absorbing and only moderately preposterous new thriller written and directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff, manages an impressive feat of economy.
It tells a good, snakelike story, slithering in some unpredictable directions.
Traitor is an earnest, efficient, serviceable thriller that makes a valiant effort to untangle some of the moral complexities of the post-9/11 world.
A thought-provoking addition to the current wave of real world political thrillers.
By only partially broaching the film's underlying themes concerning terrorism, religion, and international relations, Traitor becomes little more than a disposable thriller in need of a sharper focus.
Traitor is an amazing flick that perfectly balances out the reality of terrorism and keeps the audience guessing and entertained throughout.
It may dip a toe or two in the waters of previous international conspiracy thrillers, but it works the genre with tremendous spirit and a robust sense of humanity, eschewing standard action honors to observe the actual consequence of death.
when the entire movie revolves around rooting for (or against) the success of a massive suicide bombing campaign, you're asking a lot from the popcorn and nacho crowd.
The title double-edged, 'Traitor,' however, sticks to its main guns as a spy-fanatic-jihad thriller. In this it succeeds better than many others.
Cheadle usually melts seamlessly into his roles. He's less convincing here, however.
Traitor can't seem to decide whether it wants to be an edge-of-the-seat action thriller or a more contemplative and intellectual drama about religion and terrorism.
A tough, taut, mostly well-executed morality parable and thriller that explores some of the bitter ironies of this strange religious vendetta in which America unwittingly finds itself.
Don Cheadle is such a good actor. If he were more of a showboat, he would be a bigger star. But he remains the go-to man for a film like this.
It's serious and intense like a fall political drama, but it's shallow and meaningless like a summer blockbuster.
Despite Nachmanoff's fairly brisk pacing, the film has some drag in its midsection...but the director atones with turn of the screw climax most will not see coming.
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. ![]()
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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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