Traitor

Traitor

Rated PG-13

Running time: 1 hr 54 mins

Cast:

Don Cheadle
Guy Pierce
Neal McDonough
Jeff Daniels

Critical consensus:

*** out of *****
(56% Fresh Rating)

Matt's Take:

A-

Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating:

**** out of *****

The premise:

When straight arrow FBI agent Roy Clayton (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 (Cheadle).

MY REVIEW

Traitor is kind of like 2008's version of, The Kingdom. Meaning its an action film that centers around an actual intelligent plot and doesn't rely on "wow-ing" the audience with cool stunts. Don't get me wrong, all the action moments are great, it just doesn't steal anything from the movie itself. Giving us a well made action thriller.

I was originally concerned that this film would be political, the same concern I had before seeing The Kingdom. You see when it comes to anything political, I'll admit I'm ignorant. However I was relieved that the story of the film wasn't that politcal at all. From what I gathered the whole storlyine was an original concept. The Don Cheadle (Crash, Hotel Rwanda) character gets involved in a terrorist cell that plans to conduct a widespread attack on US citizens. At first, we aren't really sure if he is some form of American spy, or if he really is involved. Yet we know due to the previews and about halfway through the film, that he is a spy sort.

For me, it's at that point in the film where the movie and its story get really good. We now know this guys true intentions, and we see him struggle with numerous things. He struggles with staying covert, he struggles in maintaining the trust of the terrorist leaders, and he struggles with one of the terrorists he truly befriends. It also becomes a great spy thriller. We see two parts of the story, Cheadles infeltration into the terrorist cell and then we see the FBI agents trying to catch him. So in a way, it works well as a cat and mouse story too.

None of the actual action is over the top, which seems to be a rare things in action films these days. All of it is much needed to further the story. You never would think that Don Cheadle would be an action star, I definitely didn't. Even as the film was starting, I wasn't sure if it would be believable, but he actually does a very good job with it. Eat your heart out Matt Damon and your boring Bourne movies, Don Cheadle has taken your seat! Performance wise, Cheadle is wonderful as usual. This guys is just another one of those deeply underrated actors. He received an Oscar nomination for Hotel Rwanda few years back, and that was deserved; but I feel he's been robbed of a few others. I kind of hope he doesn't become to big of a name, I think he should just keep doing what he's doing.

Also in the film is a complete Oscar snub, Guy Pearce (Memento, LA Confidential). His performance in Memento alone just added to the greatness that was that film, and he received no attention for it. Sad. In this one, I think he does a good job. Not his best work, but pulls off a tough guy FBI agent rather well. So kudos to him. Neal McDonough (Minority Report, Flags of Our Fathers) plays his partner. He's not an overly important character, and the same goes in his acting life. You see this guy, and you known you've seen him before but don't know where...that's the kind of actor he is. I know him from Minority Report. You know, he's a good actor and he's good here, just not recognizable and I don't think he could ever pull off a strong lead performance. Last we have Jeff Daniels (Pleasantville, The Lookout). His role is basically limited to an extended cameo. We see him in maybe 3 or 4 scenes tops. Last year he delivered a very stand out performance in The Lookout and was one of my finalists for Best Supporting Actor. No such luck here. I mean he's good, just doesn't really leave you with any lasting image. I don't know why, but this guy always reminds me of Uncle Joey from Full House....

The direction I thought was excellent. I loved the grainy look of the film. I think I even picked up on a few shaky cam effects, which I'm actually a fan of. Overall, Traitor is a really solid action thriller that most people would enjoy. Nothing over the top about it, yet nothing profound about it. I recommend it!

To view this films theatrical trailer, click this link: Traitor

*This is the 91st new film I've seen and reviewed this year.