Traitor Story Synopsis
Samir Horn (Cheadle) is a devout Islamic follower, whose past involves some weapons and explosives training with the U.S. Special Forces. Currently operating as an arms dealer selling a high grade explosive called Semtex, Samir encounters Omar (Said Taghmaoui) during a sale negotation of a large shipment in Yemen.
Unbeknownst to both men, the FBI is working with local authorities to make an impressive arrest, and both men along with several others, are arrested and jailed. During their imprisonment, Samir and Omar have time to discuss their beliefs, and Omar's plans within his Islamic Brotherhood.
As the Brotherhood attacks the jail, allowing both men to escape, Omar extends an offer to Samir, to join their ranks. Samir accepts, and is soon involved in the planning of several terror attacks. Meanwhile back in the U.S., agents Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) and Max Archer (Neal Mcdonough) are piecing together the clues that will lead to the Brotherhood's activities, their potential hits on American soil, and Samir horn's involvement throughout.
As Clayton digs deeper and deeper, he finds conflicting information regarding Horn, and struggles to understand his motives. Unbeknownst to the FBI, Samir is in fact a deep undercover agent working for a high ranking Washington intelligence contractor named Carter (Jeff Daniels), and has a purposeful mission to infiltrate the ranks of the Brotherhood, to stop them from attacking the United States.
When Carter is killed by Omar, Samir must rely on his own skills to stay alive without giving away his true motives, while still escaping his American pursuers, who are unaware of his undercover status.
Traitor Overall Analysis
While note necessarily being at the same high profile caliber as the Bourne movies starring Matt Damon, Traitor is an effective thriller, which gives much insight into the inner workings of a terrorist cell. Adding to this the element of a conflicted spy in their midst, this film delivers on its promise of an action packed story, well paced and well directed.
The story idea for Traitor came from a most unusual source: comedian Steve Martin, who had mentioned the idea to a producer on his film Bringing Down the House, as they discussed the concept of how a tale would unfold, if an Islamic American spy were to find himself on the other side, involved in terror acts, and how this would morally affect the character.
Under the directorial eye of screenwriter Jeffrey Nachmanoff (who wrote the apocalyptic drama The Day After Tomorrow), Don Cheadle holds this film together as the central character, a man at odds with the events happening around him, yet destined to maintain his core beliefs, while trying to preserve the sanctity of human life. From start to finish, Cheadle is just as good as he has been in recent dramas, including Hotel Rwanda.
As every good misunderstood hero on the run must have an Inspector Javert-like individual on his trail, Guy Pearce (Memento, Priscilla Queen of the Desert) does his best as Agent Clayton, a man with his own religious background, who tries best he can to piece the elements together to see the big picture. Unfortunately, he and Neal McDonough don't have much to work with, and so they just seem to go through the motions of the investigation, having very litle chance to shine in this movie.
Honourable mentions go to two of the Brotherhood's key figures, French actor Said Taghmaoui as Omar, whose performance shines in the film, and Bollywood actor Aly Khan, whose regal presence on screen embues his character of Fareed, a highly intelligent man dedicated to a single purpose, and whose skills and resources are a definite threat to the American people.
Traitor DVD Features
The film is the main product here, and so the extras are pretty standard, with a commentary by the director and Don Cheadle, as well as two small featurettes about special effects, as well as filming locations for the movie.
Traitor deserves a spot on the DVD shelf of any fan of either the Bourne series, or a good Jack Ryan political thriller. While the overall movie isn't as great as the aforementioned flicks, Don Cheadle's performance alone is worthy of praise, and makes this movie a worthwhile watch.
7.5 out of 10, mainly due to Don Cheadle's ace performance, and a well developed story
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