Traitor
Don Cheadle is one of those actors who can say volumes with a simple expression. Maybe it’s his dark, contemplative eyes set into a face that the audience wants to trust. Someone told me that director Steven Soderbergh once said that if you wanted to make your movie better, put Don Cheadle in it.
Whatever it is that makes Don Cheadle a believable character actor does not fail him in this summer’s political thriller Traitor.
Traitor is yet another one of those moralizing post-9/11 films that attempts to make a statement at the expense of character, story and dialogue. I have no problem with films with a message, and the message here is one we have heard before: Muslims are wonderful people, except for the few nuts who misinterpreted the Koran and became terrorists, and the US government is a lot like those aforementioned terrorists – good people who lost their way. And there is plenty of blame in Traitor for both Islamic terrorism and American Imperialism to share.
Aside from the overbearing politicizing, the movie is entertaining. Cheadle and costars Guy Pearce and Jeff Daniels are an apt cast who manage to take a rather weak and loose first act and keep the audience interested enough for the payoff in act three. Yes, this is one of those twisting, turning plots that, when properly executed, can turn a mediocre thriller into a really good one. And perhaps it’s plotting that works here. The script, heavy-handed and even trite at times, is the weakest link in the chain. Competent directing and a great cast more than make up for the movie’s flaws.
Traitor opens this week.
*** out of 5.
Whatever it is that makes Don Cheadle a believable character actor does not fail him in this summer’s political thriller Traitor.
Traitor is yet another one of those moralizing post-9/11 films that attempts to make a statement at the expense of character, story and dialogue. I have no problem with films with a message, and the message here is one we have heard before: Muslims are wonderful people, except for the few nuts who misinterpreted the Koran and became terrorists, and the US government is a lot like those aforementioned terrorists – good people who lost their way. And there is plenty of blame in Traitor for both Islamic terrorism and American Imperialism to share.
Aside from the overbearing politicizing, the movie is entertaining. Cheadle and costars Guy Pearce and Jeff Daniels are an apt cast who manage to take a rather weak and loose first act and keep the audience interested enough for the payoff in act three. Yes, this is one of those twisting, turning plots that, when properly executed, can turn a mediocre thriller into a really good one. And perhaps it’s plotting that works here. The script, heavy-handed and even trite at times, is the weakest link in the chain. Competent directing and a great cast more than make up for the movie’s flaws.
Traitor opens this week.
*** out of 5.
Comments