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Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Critic Consensus: No consensus yet.
All Critics (22) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (9) | Rotten (13)
A minor drama about major events.
Doesn't attempt much, doesn't accomplish much, doesn't offer much and doesn't leave you with anything memorable to take home with you.
The dialogue and Roth's storytelling manner are heavy handed...
An interesting look at the transitory nature of enemies and the way history shifts alliances.
All in all, a resonant theme, poorly played.
The mix of mawkishness and polemic is naive. Children, though, will probably leave with a lot of good questions. A better movie would leave them with more.
It's easy to see how parents and teachers of school-aged kids could find "The Little Traitor" useful to begin an introductory conversation about tolerance and friendship. But the film's childish tone does little to enlighten the rest of us.
Treacly love-thy-enemy yarn in a historically remarkable place and time
The film slams to a halt every time Port opens his mouth and widens his gee-willikers peepers; since he's the titular traitor and is in virtually every scene, Roth's film never has much of a chance.
Poignant, child's view of the summer of 1947, just before the sun set on the Brit Empire in Jerusalem and everything changed, but does't catch the ruefulness of Oz's novel.
Shooting on locations in Jerusalem, the film feels real and authentic with Roth getting the most out of the local atmosphere but itâ(TM)s her fine screenplay and keen eye for casting that makes The Little Traitor stand out from the pack.
The film makes no effort to ameliorate the many contrivances of the novel's plot.
Heartwarming. Charming...an excellent, well written movie. The actors were chosen very well for their parts, and they did a really great job. Nice little history lesson in this, too. An ending that made me teary eyed. What more can you ask for?...
Super Reviewer
A Palestinian Jew "betrays" his community by forming a friendship with British officer in 1947. The friendship between Sergeant Dunlop and Proffy, played by Alfred Molina and Ido Port respectively, is charming and endearing, and Molina plays the genial father perfectly. As a whole, though, the film has several flaws. Like many Western films about Israel and Palestine, The Little Traitor elides Palestinian Arabs and Muslims from the conversation, condemning them to roles like good-natured merchants with a minute of screen time and a lip-service mention in the film's final moments. It's revisionist history in its worst form, and to suggest that Jews were the only victims of British occupation is myopic and irresponsible. Despite these political concerns, I think director Lynn Roth is less concerned with Zionist politics, which are certainly depicted, and most concerned with a human coming-of-age tale. Even in this, the film fails because of Ido Port's stoic, bland performance. Molina carries their scenes together, but the child actor's reaction shots might as well be an impromptu photograph of Port watching grass grow. Overall, even with Port's poor performance, I found myself thinking that the film - even with its historical amnesia - has its heart in the right place, believing that the way to dispel colonization's violence is through personal friendships rather than political violence; if only Roth had applied the same view to present-day issues in which Proffy and Dunlop's roles are reversed.
a little charmer of a coming-of-age piece about a jewish boy in british occupied palestine (soon to be israel ...soon to be israel / palestine ... soon to be ... oh hell, you already know!) before the 1948 liberation. great if your want to see jerusalem and indulge in a little cultural splurge.
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