Traitor

Don Cheadle is a quiet actor. He's the kind of actor who doesn't have to say a lot, we can see a lot of his internal conflict on his face. He's also very good at expressing emotion. This trait comes in favorably in Traitor, an uneven but ultimately satisfying story of terrorism that asks a lot of hard questions, but intentionally doesn't give a lot of easy answers, or any answers at all. With the Labor Day weekend usually treated as a dumping ground for studios, it's surprising that this thought-provoking drama showed up. Even more surprising is that it sprung from the mind of comic actor Steve Martin (who is credited with the story and as a Producer), and screenwriter turned filmmaker Jeffrey Nachmanoff, who previously wrote the disaster epic from a few years ago, The Day After Tomorrow.

Here, Cheadle plays Samir, a Muslim acting as a deep-cover agent on a mission to infiltrate and gain the trust of terrorist operatives. He must keep his identity and true purposes secret at all times, the only person being aware of his true motives being an agent and handler by the name of Carter (Jeff Daniels). Since the FBI are unaware of Samir's existence, a pair of agents named Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) and Max Archer (Neal McDonough) mistake him for being a threat to the nation when images of Samir begin appearing near bombing sites and in the company of wanted terrorists. Because of the nature of his mission, Samir is forced to make difficult situations every day, even ones where he must decide if innocent people live or die. He tries his best to earn the favor of the terrorist groups without having to hurt innocents, but naturally, sometimes the explosives he sets up claim lives he did not intend, despite his best efforts.

Traitor leaves us guessing where Samir's loyalties lie for quite a while. He is simply a man fighting to continue to practice his religion peacefully without having to fear being persecuted. He is a devout Muslim, and in this post-9/11 world, that leads to automatic suspicion. His aim is to shut down Muslim extremists so that he can have religious freedom again. He's seen too many people sacrificing themselves for their beliefs, and is trying to do his part. We learn why this is important to him in the film's opening scene, when we witness a flashback to Samir's childhood when he witnessed his father killed in a car bomb. He is a constantly conflicted man who is in danger of going in too deep undercover. He develops genuine friendships with some of the people that he's supposed to be stopping, and as mentioned, he has innocent blood on his hands. This leads to some obvious tension as Samir finds himself questioning not only his own motives and intentions, but also just what kind of good he is actually doing by going this deep undercover into the world of the enemy.

Writer-director Nachmanoff finds the right tone to tell his constantly twisting tale of loyalty. The movie is not exactly fast-paced and action heavy, but it is also not lethargic or drawn down by lengthy scenes of dialogue. Cheadle is able to say so much with just his face and his performance, he often doesn't have to say a word. There is an instant connection with the audience as soon as he steps into the frame of the camera. All of the performances are fine here, but this is clearly Cheadle's movie, and will have you wondering why he is not a bigger star. Despite the film's mainly quiet tone, it does a wonderful job of bringing up the suspense when it is necessary, or leaving us wondering just how Samir is going to get out of the situation that he's currently in. The screenplay does take a few wrong turns here and there (an extended sequence in a prison early on in the film kind of slows things down a little), but they are not enough to distract the audience from what works so well.

What does distract is the occasionally clunky dialogue, such as when tough-talking FBI agent Max Archer tries to muscle some information out of a suspect, and says, "Sorry, guess I left my Bill of Rights at home". Traitor also seems strangely muted, due to its PG-13 rating. This is a film obviously targeted at an adult audience, and a more appropriate rating probably would have made some of the movie's more shocking scenes hit a lot harder. The film's oddly bloodless terrorism violence kind of sticks out like a sore thumb given the central theme and conflict of the film itself. When a young terrorist is chased down and killed by his former allies because he may have jeopardized their mission by talking about it to a family relative, the fact that the outcome is kept mainly off camera really lessens the impact of what should have been a tragic and powerful scene.

Traitor is a flawed film, and sometimes a bit too fond of its own twists and winding plot for its own good. But, thanks to Cheadle's performance and a mostly effective tone that doesn't take sides and provides no real answers, it sticks in your head long after you've walked out of the theater. My only fear is that it will have a hard time finding an audience, as teens are bound to stay away, and adults might ignore it due to its release date. This is a rare late summer movie that actually has a brain in its head, and that's something that cannot be ignored.

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