SYNOPSIS:
When FBI agent Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) heads up the investigation into a dangerous international conspiracy, all clues seem to lead back to former U.S. Special Operations officer Samir Horn (Don Cheadle). A mysterious figure with a complex web of international connections, Horn has a knack for emerging on the scene just as a major operation goes down and disappearing before the authorities can question him. Obsessed with discovering the truth, Clayton tracks Horn across the globe as the elusive ex-soldier burrows deeper and deeper into a world constructed of secrets and lies.
MOVIE REVIEW:
The primarily premise of Traitor sounds like a newspaper cut-out, one which most of us are so familiar with. For instance, the recent bombings carried out by Islamic terrorists on our neighboring country, Indonesia and the escape of a certain jihadist, Mas Selemat which caused a minor uproar on our small island last year.
On the contrary, the people of America and Europe for years were misled by the Bush Administration that 911 was linked to the infamous tyrant Saddem Hussein, in actual fact lies more complex political issues beneath the rumbles and bombings.
In a rare effort by Hollywood, Traitor takes a microscopic look behind the motives of the Islamic radicals and tries to uncover the truth further through the eyes of a fictional religious man, Samir Horn (Don Cheadle) born of an American mother and Sudanese father. Samir is an ex-sergeant from the American army specializing in explosives and he is now believed to have assisted in terrorist acts by FBI agents, Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) and Max Archer (Neal McDonough). What causes a man like Samir who breaths and talks the Quran to bomb the America embassy in France killing eight innocent people?
The script co-written by funnyman Steve Martin (surprise, surprise) and director Jeffrey Nachmanoff trades the usual swirling helicopters and car chase sequences for a subdue characters study, smartly focus their attention on Samir and Omar (Saïd Taghmaoui), a man who seems as lost as Samir and the intriguing insight to both Islamic men who were surprisingly educated in the west, talks and even think in English to their extend of brainwashing young street kids to carry out ruthless executions in the belief to free all Muslims in the world.
This taut thriller fortunately never seems to lose track of the message it’s relaying despite the intercut of Pearce’s portrayal of Agent Clayton, a low key role which the Australian actor plays off remarkably well with Cheadle despite the limited chance to interact with one another.
While Sir Ridley Scott’s Body of Lies takes a broader perspective and Peter Berg’s The Kingdom relies on a shoot’-em-up attempt on the issue, Nachmanoff cleverly avoided the usual clichés and gives a fresh look at the conflict and morals faced by the protagonists.
Although I must say the climax ends a little too quickly and on a fairy tale note, the dialogue laden movie on the whole provides compelling and believable entertainment and Don Cheadle once again turns in a mesmerizing, angst-driven performance. If you are expecting a high-octane action flick to kill a lazy afternoon then Traitor being a thoughtful movie might not serve much of its purpose.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
This Code 3 DVD contains no extra features.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
I doubt you will be impressed with the dull Dolby Stereo soundtrack but the video transfer is reasonably acceptable in this context.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Linus Tee
Posted on 10 August 2009
|
