Traitor (2008)
Average Rating: 6.1/10
Reviews Counted: 165
Fresh: 104 | Rotten: 61
Despite another reliable performance from Don Cheadle, Traitor suffers from too many cliches and an unfocused narrative.
Average Rating: 5.7/10
Critic Reviews: 38
Fresh: 20 | Rotten: 18
Despite another reliable performance from Don Cheadle, Traitor suffers from too many cliches and an unfocused narrative.
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Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 63,362
My Rating
Movie Info
An undercover CIA agent within a terrorist cell is marked as a terrorist suspect by the FBI in Overture Films' upcoming thriller Traitor. Don Cheadle produces and stars in the film as the operative under Guy Pearce's investigation. Based on an idea by Steve Martin, the film is written and directed by Day After Tomorrow screenwriter Jeffrey Nachmanoff. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
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Cast
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Don Cheadle
Samir Horn -
Guy Pearce
Ron Clayton -
Said Taghmaoui
Omar -
Neal McDonough
Max Archer -
Aly Khan
Fareed -
Archie Panjabi
Chandra Dawkin -
Raad Rawi
Nathir -
Hassam Ghancy
Bashir -
Mozhan Marnò
Leyla -
Adeel Akhtar
Hamzi -
Jeff Daniels
Carter
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Traitor Trailer & Photos
All Critics (167) | Top Critics (38) | Fresh (106) | Rotten (62) | DVD (13)
Once the pieces fall into place, it loses momentum, meandering towards a contrived climax in which all ambiguity is swept aside and the forces of righteous democracy prove reassuringly triumphant.
Top CriticA good political action movie that makes you use your brain a little bit.
It was complicated but ultimately it failed in that attempt to deliver a complicated message.
Let's just say this is a well paced thriller with a strong cast -- it's good to see Guy Pearce on screen -- but the terrorist threat which obsessed the recent Bush administration has been dwarfed by a couple of things...
Promising premise devolves into a by-the-numbers espionage thriller.
Traitor gets a leg up thanks to a solid cast, including Guy Pearce, an underused Jeff Daniels and chiefly Cheadle's Horn, whose quiet dignity makes his blurred loyalties believable and his true sympathies indefinable.
Simmers down into a reasonably smart little thriller with a moral conscience, yet.
If it doesn't succeed in challenging you perception of the war on terror, it might challenge your view on Steve Martin.
Surprisingly, Steve Martin created this story. In a decade of wild and crazy fictional terrorism, his was the most horrifyingly plausible - one that spun terrorism as drama into uncomfortable community theater, striking the country's friendliest corners.
We watch for the sake of the chase, and while it's a chase that certainly proves better than most, it's also one that is good enough to have been even better than that.
As a thriller, Traitor excels and feels especially relevant, considering the subject matter.
The action scenes will grab you, but there's an actual story here, too.
Much harder to see coming is the film's denouement, but that's only because of its extreme silliness.
A certain interest resides in the film's even-handedness.
As the eponymous terrorist, Cheadle makes a big impact without too much noise.
Traitor is undeniably an intelligent, watchable thriller that wisely steers clear of racial stereotyping, yet manages to fall short of delivering a wholly satisfying cerebral or visceral experience.
The result is an absorbing, old-fashioned drama without the gung-ho rhetoric you might have expected.
A globe-trotting conspiracy thriller that is a little too complicated for its own good.
Traitor has its faults. It's overlong, contrived in parts and ultimately resorts to some predictable tactics. The irresistible question is whether the US would be making films like this if 9/11 hadn't happened.
Strong turns from Cheadle and Pearce elevate an ambitious suspenser with a keen eye for the duplicities that propel the War On Terror. The risible ending, alas, is pure wish-fulfillment hokum, while the solitary female character is barely a cipher.
More carefully measured than many of its American contemporaries, Traitor doesn't match the heights of Syriana, but sits comfortably above, say, The Kingdom for mapping out the complexities of its issues .
The moral maze is not quite as murky as it should be, a suspicion that we may have misjudged the hero whisks the film back into the realms of fiction, and detracts from the issues it raises.
Audience Reviews for Traitor
A very solid good movie surprisingly so. The story was amazing and very creative. It's intriguing and suspenseful with a combination of drama and espionage action. The leading role acting by Don Cheadle really was impressive. The direction and photography also is top-notch. One thing that's odd about this film: it has very strong statements which will please both liberals and conservatives, both devoutly religious folks and atheists. It pretty much covers the field. Highly recommended film, Enjoy!
Samir Horn (Don Cheadle), a devout American Muslim, and a former U.S. Army Special Forces expert in explosives, has been mysteriously showing up on the FBI's radar for being in the area of terrorist bombings. FBI agent Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) heads up a task force investigation to link Horn to these bombings. Clayton is able to question Horn after he was arrested in Yemen for attempting to sell explosives to an Islamic terrorist group. The terrorists break out of prison and take Horn with them. With the help of Max Archer (Neal McDonough), Clayton is able to link Horn to a bombing of an American Consulate in Nice, and a failed police raid to capture his top terrorist contact in London. Clayton has been pursuing Horn around the world and has tracked him to the United States. Clayton must capture Horn before he strikes his next target.
Super Reviewer
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- Samir Horn: We're in prison in Yemen for terrorism. I wouldn't make any plans.
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