Grade: C Director: Jeffrey Nachmanoff (Hollywood Palms) Screenplay: Nachmanoff (The Day After Tomorrow), Steve Martin (Pink Panther 2) Cast: Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda), Guy Pearce (Memento) Rating: PG 13
by John DeSando, WCBE’s It’s Movie Time
"He's caught between traditional Islam and the West." About "traitor" Samir Horn
Traitor is no traitor to the thriller genre: Traces abound of the Jason Bourne series and Traffic to cite two different nail biters that rely on quick-cutting international intrigue and vulnerable but intrepid heroes (An operative says, "Terrorism is theatre, and theatre is always performed for an audience").
What Traitor doesn't have is a dynamic hero—Don Cheadle plays disaffected former Special Operations officer Samir Horn as if he were still running the hotel in Rwanda with his too cool mien, certainly not the passionate Petey Greene of last year's Talk to Me. It's more like Cheadle underplaying Cheadle. Samir is the center of the FBI's attention as it tries to determine his motive and plan for a coordinated terrorism attack in the US.
FBI agent Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) provides energy and irony when he is on the screen and even more so his tough assistant, Max Archer (the very blue-eyed Neal McDonough). Australian Pearce's subtle Southern accent is remarkable, but then the Memento star has always infused his roles with wit and intensity.
Traitor has some gyrating cinematography and a moment or two of good tough guy talk ("Sorry, left my Bill of Rights at home"), yet it is curiously devoid of a fresh take on espionage—even 9/11 inspired Muslim terrorists are clichéd. Horn himself characterizes his place among all jihadists and agents: "I don't feel at home anywhere." If the film does anything well, it is evoking this sense of misplacement not just for Horn but for all who are deeply concerned about the US image abroad and the omnipresent threats from disgruntled foreign powers. That the web of international loyalties is mystifying is the strength of an otherwise unremarkable, underplayed film.
"I cannot think that espionage can be recommended as a technique for building an impressive civilisation. It's a lout's game." Rebecca West
John DeSando teaches film at Franklin University and co-hosts WCBE 90.5’s It's Movie Time, which can be heard streaming at http://publicbroadcasting.net/wcbe/ppr/index.shtml at 3:01 pm and 8:01 pm and on demand anytime at http://publicbroadcasting.net/wcbe/arts.artsmain?action=sectionIndex&sid=13 . Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.RR.com
