Traitor

A few years ago, Don Cheadle rose to the top of the acting world with dynamite performances in Hotel Rwanda, the Ocean's series, Crash, and Traffic. He even got to fight in Rush Hour 2! So it should come as no surprise that Cheadle is electrifying and deep in this film, and it is his performance that makes the film what it is: a deeply engrossing political thriller that will definitely make the audience think about the movie, and of course, the current state of affairs in our world.

Traitor did a very good job of stepping on the audience's toes with some lines that could've been considered prejudiced, and then catching themselves with actual truths about the war in the Middle East, in addition to religions themselves. This obviously takes place in the dialog of the characters, particularly those of Cheadle and Guy Pearce. The film's dialog is well written, making up for the sometimes slow pacing scenes that take awhile to transpire.

I've already heaped my praise on Don Cheadle, but I'll do it a little bit more. One of the crucial plot points is the true allegiance of his character, and it is the subtlety of his performance that will keep you guessing what side he is fighting for, though when the answer is finally revealed, you'll think you knew all along. Some call this 'predictable'. I call it great acting. Guy Pearce delivers a winner of a show as well as the straight edge FBI agent chasing after Cheadle, though his character has been done to death, to be honest. Neal McDonough is somewhat annoying in a supporting role as Pearce's partner (though I think Neal is annoying anyway...), while Jeff Daniels is a nice addition to the team. I thought another great performance came from Said Taghmaoui, as Cheadle's terrorist partner. After one of the better villainous performances of the year in Vantage Point, Taghmaoui delivers a performance just as deep and riveting as Cheadle's. This guy is one of the more underrated performers around, and he should get more work outside of being a terrorist.

I like the character development within the script, but I have some issues with the pacing of the film, which I'll take up with our director. The film seemed slow at times, as I was constantly waiting for a particular moment to happen, while 5 pacing scenes would come in the way like a roadblock and just aggravate me a bit. It's nitpicking, but some of the action was a little nauseating because of the camera. STAND STILL, YO! A decent plot twist within the ending of the film doesn't hurt at all, and adds a great element of surprise and depth to some characters.

All in all, Traitor is definitely worth a watch if you're looking to see something different to escape what is usually the graveyard for films...August. Cheadle's performance alone is worth the ticket. Taghmaoui's as well.

Sometimes good is bad and bad is good. Or put more simply: everything is just a shade of grey. What kind of shade just depends on the viewer, the perspective. Steve Martin (yes, the comedian Steve Martin) co-wrote a solid modern day spy saga that is fortunately neither black nor white. The only thing this movie lacks is emotion. By trying too hard to get the message across, director Jeffrey Nachmanoff has lost eye on the need for viewers to be able to identify with the characters and has thus made it harder to empathize with persons and causes. You will, but only in the second half of the movie. Still, the storyline is solid. And the acting is more than that. Don Cheadle is (again) magnificent and so is Saïd Taghmaoui. This is not an action movie, but a thinking man's movie. And a good one too.

When I first saw the previews, I was expecting a bourne supremacy/bond film with whoooohoooooo action that makes you say "kill, kill, kill" and gets you all worked up. But this film is more drama/realistic and made me actually think about life instead of tuning it out. The action parts are very satisfying. Don Cheadle was great. If you are expecting something along the lines of The Marine, you will probably be disappointed. It is a little more mature than that. The movie surprised me in its creativity/originality with certain scenes. overall, it is a drama/thriller/action/spy that I found very satisfying. some people on IMDb were complaining that it was slow, which it was, but don't take that to mean that the film is bad. the movie is just more of a drama film than action at times. Go see it!!!

As a young child living in Yemen "Samir Horn" (Don Cheadle) experiences the death of his father in a car bomb planted by terrorists. Afterward his mother takes him to America where he grows up and eventually joins the army as a demolitions expert. After separating from the army he begins to sell explosive detonators to the highest bidder which eventually leads him to a Muslim terrorist movement in Sudan. Unfortunately, while a meeting is taking place he is arrested and sent to a prison and upon his escape joins a terrorist movement which has use for his skills. At any rate, rather than disclose the rest of the story and risk ruining the film for those who haven't seen it I will just that that this was a pretty good action film with some drama and suspense thrown in for good measure. I especially liked the performance of Don Cheadle who I thought played the part to near perfection. Above average.

i was lucky enough to be part of the "first audience" to catch this at a pre-screening, and i have to say that i really enjoyed this film. i don't know anything else i could really say. it was suspenseful, had great twists, the acting was superb, and was a great story. Don Cheatle was amazing as ever, but i don't want to give away any spoilers at all so i wont say anything about the characters. what i will say is that Jeff Daniels for sure needed more character development. of course Guy Pierce was great, and what came as a semi-surprise was Saïd Taghmaoui's performance. very well-done by the cast and if Steve Martin is really the man who came up with the idea, he needs to keep churning 'em out. Traitor was a fit name for the film, and i would recommend it to all of you reading this.

9 1/2 out of 10