Pacing is a key component of any
movie, but with one like Traitor it’s especially
essential. This is because Traitor is a thriller in the
most basic sense of the word: its effectiveness relies entirely
on the slow unveiling of its tightly-wound plot. In order to be
successful, the picture must both keep the viewer guessing and
not allow them to be savvy enough to predict what will happen in
the end.
Traitor
may end up achieving a substantial level of unpredictability,
but it fails to meet the additional aforementioned requirement
of a thriller. In the film’s first act, the viewer quickly
realizes that it won’t become clear for awhile just where
writer/director Jeffrey Nachmanoff is taking them and, as a
result, they are not fully intrigued by the plot’s progression.
All said viewer knows is that Samir Horn (Don Cheadle), a
Sudanese immigrant to the U.S. who later became a Special
Operations officer in the military, is now working with shady
terrorists in Yemen. In an opening scene, he provides a group of
these terrorists a supply of detonators for suicide bombers,
only be caught by FBI agents (Guy Pearce and Neil McDonaugh) and
committed to a Yemeni prison. There, he becomes acquainted with
Omar (Saïd Taghmaoui), a man taken into custody alongside him
who is involved in a plot to stage an attack in the United
States.
From the
get-go, it’s pretty clear that Samir is not a transformed
terrorist himself, but rather an individual working so covertly
for the U.S. Government that only a lone agent—in this case
Carter (Jeff Daniels)—knows of his assignment. His history
doesn’t match up with that of a man of jihadist persuasions; his
father died in a car-bombing that was terrorism-related and he
is a devout, compassionate Muslim, not one inspired by radical
ideals. As a result, no intrigue is conjured up watching Pearce
and McDonaugh’s agents track Samir’s activity because they
believe him to be related to the terrorist plot. He will
obviously be found not guilty of any crimes if he is arrested.
Alas, the only thing the audience has left to ponder is whether
Samir will be able to stop the terrorist plot that Omar, leader
Nathir (Raad Rawi), and fellow jihadists are planning to
conduct. While this proves somewhat engaging in sporadic spurts,
it fails to culminate into a work of great significance because
it only has two possible (uninspired) conclusions: 1) a
feel-good finale in which Samir stops the plot or 2) an
over-preachy statement-making ending in which the terrorists
succeed.
While
Traitor is busy plodding along as a thriller, filmmaker
Nachmanoff would like to convince his viewers that it is a movie
of substance, perhaps not even one that should be considered a
mere “thriller” at all. (I suspect, however, that Nachmanoff
wished to make up for the movie’s deficiencies in the
thrills-department when writing it and therefore saw a need to
interject with additional material.) In order to bulk things up,
the movie examines Samir’s Muslim faith from an emotional (as
opposed to cultural) perspective. For the most part, this
functions as yet another politically-correct, obvious
reinforcement of the always widely-held view that Islam largely
exists for the better. It does prove fascinating in its
exploration of one story-thread, however: Samir’s religion-based
interaction with the terrorists, who hypocritically pride
themselves on being the most devout of Muslims. There is an
unexpectedly intense scene in which a terrorist higher-up
explains to Samir the moral-righteousness of drinking alcohol
(an act forbidden by the Koran) in public because it allows
jihadists to “blend in” and not open themselves up as targets
for investigation.
While
Traitor is mostly spotty in its ability to immerse and
engage viewers on the whole, one part of the equation is
consistently excellent: the acting. In the lead role, Don
Cheadle is compelling because he captures all of the intrigue
that Nachmanoff fails to achieve in the grander scheme. Keeping
his emotions and associations close to the belt, Samir proves
fascinating on a human level, much thanks to Cheadle’s nuanced
performance. Jeff Daniels also turns in solid work, albeit only
seen in short-segments. Not to mention, the entire Arab cast for
the film is believable and riveting, as well. The only weak link
is Pearce, whose drowsy FBI agent always takes the viewer out of
the moment. Come to think of it, Pearce’s mediocre work is very
similar to Nachmanoff’s writing and direction: it’s constantly
interruptive of the movie’s best elements because it favors a
procedural approach, and most unfortunately so because said
approach is lacking on a fundamental level.
Traitor
may have its moments and its good qualities, but it doesn’t work
as a thriller because it lacks suspense and it doesn’t work as a
drama because its effective material isn’t unified enough.
What’s left is a film that drifts and wanders, full of potential
but equally as devoid of a polished finish.
-Danny Baldwin, Bucket Reviews
Review Published on: 8.27.2008
Screened on: 8.25.2008 at the
Chaplin Screening Room at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, CA.