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Movies / On DVD / Traitor
Traitor

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Traitor (2008)

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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

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for Traitor

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121 - 140 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Traitor offers up one of the more maddeningly, gratifyingly complex lead characters seen in movies lately.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
08/27/08
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe

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.

Full Review Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram | comment Comment
08/27/08
Scott Von Doviak
Scott Von Doviak
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

A fair number of recent, post-9/11 dramas have suffered from the same malady: research paperitis.

Full Review Source: LarsenOnFilm | comment Comment
08/27/08
Josh Larsen
Josh Larsen
LarsenOnFilm

Traitor, a somber, absorbing and only moderately preposterous new thriller written and directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff, manages an impressive feat of economy.

comment Comment
08/27/08
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It tells a good, snakelike story, slithering in some unpredictable directions.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
08/27/08
Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune

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.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
08/27/08
Stephanie Zacharek
Stephanie Zacharek
Salon.com

A thought-provoking addition to the current wave of real world political thrillers.

Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment Comment
08/26/08
Edward Douglas
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net

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.

Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | comment Comment
08/26/08
Dustin Putman
Dustin Putman
DustinPutman.com

Traitor is an amazing flick that perfectly balances out the reality of terrorism and keeps the audience guessing and entertained throughout.

Full Review Source: WJFK-FM (CBS Radio) | comment Comment
08/26/08
Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy
WJFK-FM (CBS Radio)

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.

Full Review Source: BrianOrndorf.com | comment Comment
08/26/08
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
BrianOrndorf.com

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.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
08/26/08
Bill Gibron
Bill Gibron
Filmcritic.com

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.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
08/26/08
Donald J. Levit
Donald J. Levit
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

Cheadle usually melts seamlessly into his roles. He's less convincing here, however.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
08/26/08
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune

[A] tense, talky and unusually thoughtful spy thriller.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
08/26/08
Amy Biancolli
Amy Biancolli
Houston Chronicle

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.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
08/26/08
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today

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.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
08/26/08
William Arnold
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

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.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
08/26/08
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's serious and intense like a fall political drama, but it's shallow and meaningless like a summer blockbuster.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
08/26/08
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com

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.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
08/26/08
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews

An intelligent thriller with twists.

Full Review Source: FilmsInReview.com | comment Comment
08/26/08
Victoria Alexander
Victoria Alexander
FilmsInReview.com
 
 
121 - 140 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
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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. Opens in new window
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. Opens in new window
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. Opens in new window
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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