David O'ConnellTraitor
November 18th 2008 03:24
With the likes of Hotel Rwanda, Traffic and Crash behind him Don Cheadle’s status as a heavyweight actor has rarely been in doubt and his perfectly controlled performance is the foundation on which Traitor is built. This engrossing new film directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff, with its fascinating cultural and political dimensions, provides a fresh perspective in the way it portrays Muslims on screen whilst remaining true to the formula of successful action/suspense films.
Cheadle is Samir Horn, born in Sudan but raised mostly in Chicago by his mother after witnessing his father’s demise in a traumatic bombing. Because of this mix of cultural influences, the full extent of his allegiances remains ambiguous for a lot of the film, providing genuine intrigue.
Samir soon has a personal nemesis in FBI agent, Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce), who first tracks him down in Yemen with explosives in his possession. His reluctance to trade information for leniency or release soon sees him imprisoned alongside the initially suspicious Omar (Said Taghmaoui) who suspects him of being a traitor and luring the Bureau into their nest.
Samir soon wins over Omar’s support however and is taken under his wing when their terrorist group breaks the pair and a contingent of underlings out of prison (with the help of a friend in a police van!).
Much of the rest of the film is framed around a series of globetrotting terrorist attacks as Samir’s reputation grows stronger within the organisation, and the depths of his true purpose become clearer, leading to a surprising, cleverly conceived ending.
All the while, Clayton and his partner, Max Archer (Neal McDonough) are hot on his trail, convinced of Samir’s true purpose, but there are a few excellent twists in store for them as well as the audience.
Cheadle is magnificent throughout, revealing every aspect of the conflict of both mind and heart in the delineation of his face, especially his searing, expressive eyes. He convinces us of his motives as he convinces those around him, and his guile never overextends into obvious manipulation, which shows the skill of a great actor.
Pearce is also strong in support as the Southern son of a Baptist, his character never tipped over into either overzealousness or gross incompetence in an attempt to uneven the scales in his hunt for Samir.
McDonough is well cast in the fairly thankless role of Clayton’s partner, the always fine Taghmaoui as Omar is a convincing and even empathetic ally for Samir, whilst Jeff Daniels has a small but key role as Carter, a government official with a secret agenda and a strong link to Samir.
Mark Kilian’s exotic score covers familiar ground for composers facing this type of thriller but he does provide some excellent, propulsive cues for key scenes including the prison break and the finale.
Interestingly, Nachmanoff’s screenplay is based on an idea Steve Martin conceived quite a few years ago, and after many false starts it’s made it to the big screen in excellent shape, providing a refreshingly new take on faith, devoutness, and race relations in the new America of the 21st century.
Cheadle is Samir Horn, born in Sudan but raised mostly in Chicago by his mother after witnessing his father’s demise in a traumatic bombing. Because of this mix of cultural influences, the full extent of his allegiances remains ambiguous for a lot of the film, providing genuine intrigue.
Samir soon has a personal nemesis in FBI agent, Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce), who first tracks him down in Yemen with explosives in his possession. His reluctance to trade information for leniency or release soon sees him imprisoned alongside the initially suspicious Omar (Said Taghmaoui) who suspects him of being a traitor and luring the Bureau into their nest.
Samir soon wins over Omar’s support however and is taken under his wing when their terrorist group breaks the pair and a contingent of underlings out of prison (with the help of a friend in a police van!).
Samir (Don Cheadle) with Omar (Said Taghmaoui) in a Yemen prison
Much of the rest of the film is framed around a series of globetrotting terrorist attacks as Samir’s reputation grows stronger within the organisation, and the depths of his true purpose become clearer, leading to a surprising, cleverly conceived ending.
All the while, Clayton and his partner, Max Archer (Neal McDonough) are hot on his trail, convinced of Samir’s true purpose, but there are a few excellent twists in store for them as well as the audience.
Cheadle is magnificent throughout, revealing every aspect of the conflict of both mind and heart in the delineation of his face, especially his searing, expressive eyes. He convinces us of his motives as he convinces those around him, and his guile never overextends into obvious manipulation, which shows the skill of a great actor.
Guy Pearce as FBI agent Roy Clayton
Pearce is also strong in support as the Southern son of a Baptist, his character never tipped over into either overzealousness or gross incompetence in an attempt to uneven the scales in his hunt for Samir.
McDonough is well cast in the fairly thankless role of Clayton’s partner, the always fine Taghmaoui as Omar is a convincing and even empathetic ally for Samir, whilst Jeff Daniels has a small but key role as Carter, a government official with a secret agenda and a strong link to Samir.
Samir meets with Jeff Daniels' ambiguous official.
Mark Kilian’s exotic score covers familiar ground for composers facing this type of thriller but he does provide some excellent, propulsive cues for key scenes including the prison break and the finale.
Interestingly, Nachmanoff’s screenplay is based on an idea Steve Martin conceived quite a few years ago, and after many false starts it’s made it to the big screen in excellent shape, providing a refreshingly new take on faith, devoutness, and race relations in the new America of the 21st century.
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Comment by Cibbuano
20/20 Filmsight
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the comedian Steve Martin? Hmmm, prolific...
Comment by Morgan Bell
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Artist Quirk
its been a while since ive seen Guy Pearce in anything . . . i miss him!
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic
I was surprised it was the same Steve Martin too, he's proving to be a surprisingly diverse and talented artist in his mature years!
It is a nice treat to see Guy Pearce on the big screen again, and thankfully he's very good in this too.
Thanks to Jason from Salty Popcorn too - it was remiss of me to have not mentioned that 2 winning tickets (won by my girlfriend MelGee) from his recent competition were used for this screening!