Whoever put it together took a two hour movie and gave away every twist, turn and secret in just over two minutes. Best Editing in my book, because Traitor is a good movie. It's an interesting movie. It's just not good enough or interesting enough to hold me for two hours.
The acting is actually pretty good. Don Cheadle plays double agent Samir Horn as a conflicted man of faith. He's a Muslim, and recognizes that the West is more often than not a hostile place for his faith, but at the same time he sees fanatical Muslims as the true enemies of Islam. If you haven't seen the trailer, you might be asking yourself as far as an hour into the movie just who's side this guy is on.
Guy Pearce (who seems too good for what amounts to a b-level episode of 24) does his best Brad Pitt impersonation. That doesn't seem like it should be a compliment, but look at him.
Look familiar?
And just wait till you hear Pearce's Agent Clayton speak! He sounds like Rusty Ryan from the Ocean's series if he grew up in Arkansas.
Saying a guy does a good Brad Pitt impersonation doesn't seem like it should be a compliment if he isn't a SNL cast member, but that's clearly what writer/director Jeffery Nachmanoff wanted. It seems like this role was written for Pitt and either Nachmanoff didn't get the necessary financing or Pitt decided the role was too small.
Another strength is the movie's explosions. I assume they're very realistic. They feel very real, but I can't say for sure. I've never had the pleasure of being involved in an explosion of anything larger than a light bulb. (A side note here: if for whatever reason you put part of a potato chip bag on your lamp and it starts to smoke, your nine-year-old brain might think it's a good idea to remove the smoldering bits with a damp wash cloth...not as smart as it seems in your head!) Traitor's explosions are loud, violent and gory, but unedited news footage gory with bodies being jarred and smashed around like rag dolls. You know when each explosion is coming, but you're never really ready for any of them.
Now let's get to the flaws, because there aren't enough to drag the film down, but there are some small ones that annoyed me. First of all, I saw two Middle Eastern actors that I recognized as henchman from past seasons of 24 in the film's first ten minutes. Maybe Hollywood needs to search a little deeper in the Arabic actor pool. Okay, that's not a flaw...more of an odd bit of info you might not need.
Jeff Daniels isn't in the film long enough for you to even learn his name. The trailer made me think that he was going to have more screen time than Guy Pearce. If you add up all of Harry from Dumb & Dumber's scenes he might be on screen for about ten minutes.
Jeff Nachmanoff is no stranger to controversial fare. His script, The Day After Tomorrow somehow started a global warming controversy for conservatives. This script is no different. Traitor deals with both sides of the war on terror and shows that each side sees the struggle in black and white. The problem is, if I am supposed to walk away from this with a little bit of sympathy for the terrorists Nachmanoff failed. He writes them in only the slightest shade of gray - not gray enough to change any minds.
If it's not for the trailer, this movie would get an A in my book. The people in the theatre I saw the movie at gave the ending a loud ovation, and I thought it was clever enough to warrant such a response, but I already knew what was going to happen because I saw the trailer.
If you plan on seeing Traitor avoid any advertising for it!
The Greek gives it a B.
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