Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Movie review: Traitor

What language do you dream in?

By John P. Meyer

Traitor

When straight arrow FBI agent Roy Clayton heads up the investigation into a dangerous international conspiracy, all clues seem to lead back to former U.S. Special Operations Officer, Samir Horn. A mysterious figure with a web of connections to suspect organizations, Horn has a knack for emerging on the scene just as a major operation goes down. The inter-agency task force looking into the case meets with Carter, a veteran CIA contractor who seemingly has his own agenda and Max Archer, a fellow FBI agent. The task force links Horn to a bombing in Nice and a raid in London, but a tangle of contradictory evidence emerges, forcing Clayton to question whether his quarry is a man without loyalties--or something far more complicated. Obsessed with discovering the truth, Clayton tracks Horn across the globe as the elusive ex-soldier burrows deeper and deeper into a world of shadows and intrigue.

Source: Cinema Source

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When jihadist terror squad leader Omar, played with a compelling mix of menace and sympathy by Saïd Taghmaoui, asks Samir (Don Cheadle) what language he dreams in, we sense we're on untrammeled and thorny ground in the traditionally comfortable realm of espionage action/adventure filmmaking.

It's this off-balance and defocused view of the things we expect to see depicted in clearly-defined terms which gives Jeffrey Nachmanoff's outstanding thriller Traitor a narrative edge that slices deep into our predisposed notions of who's right, who's wrong and how the life-and-death events set in motion are likely to play themselves out.

Samir (Mr. Cheadle, convincing as the conflicted progeny of Islamic and American cultures) is at the center of this tale. His story begins when his father is killed by a car bomb outside their home in Sudan. They have just finished a game of chess and young Samir sees the whole thing from the balcony of their second-floor apartment. Ironically, this event establishes a blueprint for Samir's future career as an explosive device technician and expert in all things that go "BOOM!"

When we first encounter Samir as an adult, he's in the process of introducing himself to a group of deadly-looking Yemeni jihadists (led by Omar), and the introductions are not going particularly well. Hey, he just wants to peddle some Semtex, but they're acting all hinky, like "who do you think you are, and why shouldn't we treat you like the average security risk and slit your gizzard before feeding your still-warm remains to the goats out back?"

Man, that is one heavy trigger.

Why, indeed? Fortunately, the cell's spiritual leader makes a timely entry from the wings and establishes Samir's bona fides to everyone's satisfaction. Just before all Hell breaks loose.

Acting in concert with a contingent of Yemeni soldiers, FBI agents Roy Clayton and Max Archer (Guy Pearce and Neal McDonough) carry out a raid on the terrorist headquarters. Many are shot dead; Samir and Omar are taken prisoner and end up in the sort of establishment that would make Michael Scofield weep girly tears into his pillow - if he had one.

Seems every joint has its brutal inmate leader, and in this lockup it's a charming chap who steals food from the weak and gives it to the strong (i.e., himself). Right away Samir incurs this fellow's wrath by offering his plate of gruel to the wronged individual, which apparently constitutes a foul in terms of the prison brutality game. Profligate ass-kicking ensues.

Through his seemingly selfless actions and obvious devotion to Islam (he prays fervently at the prescribed hours), Samir gains the trust and respect of Omar, and - when a prison break is executed - heads off into the remainder of the film's story line as a trusted lieutenant. Samir's chess playing abilities, it turns out, have afforded him elite status in Omar's organization; he is to be a planner and high-level expediter, rather than a foot soldier. Which promises a rather longer stint on Earth, given that the foot soldiers' duties involve the wearing (and, perforce, detonating) of explosives vests in select highly-populated western localities.

"He's playing that 'Dancing Queen' song. Again."

It seems Samir will come in particularly handy, because the explosive packages put into play by Omar's crew could use a bit of re-engineering: one of them has recently incorporated an unintended delay, leading to the capture and eventual questioning (by Roy and Max) of the unfortunately still living bomber, who squeals on his associates in return for the promise that news of his continued well-being will be quashed.

Thus Roy and Max know who to target in terms of surveillance intel, and they soon learn through unofficial channels that Omar's group is preparing to launch a new U.S.-based terror campaign. It doesn't involve tall buildings or airplanes, but it's still a doozy.

Meanwhile, in the first of a series of meetings with high-level terrorist strategists and financiers, Samir joins Omar at an alfresco cafe along with a dapper gentleman named Fareed (Aly Khan), who demonstrates that the jihadist path need not be a rugged, uncomfortable track, but can in fact be paved with amenities such as booze and broads: it's all about blending in with your enemies, as he explains to the abashed Samir.

As Roy comes to discover, Samir's involvement in this whole affair is far more complex than surface indications suggest. While on Samir's part, an unforeseen turn of events forces him into a BIG change of plans that will put innocent lives - and the security of a nation - at extraordinary peril.

Samir can't tell the good guys from the bad guys. And that includes himself.

Traitor lays out all the familiar hot buttons - racial profiling, homeland security, extremist religious death squads - but it caresses them lightly rather than pounding away with a ball-peen hammer. And before the show is over, it's demonstrated that button pushes can have decidedly nonlinear results.

The movie feeds us enough nuts and bolts insidery stuff to make events seem believable. Behind-the-scenes procedural segments are employed to show how terrorist operatives are indoctrinated and trained; and we peer over Samir's figurative shoulder as he enacts a page from the Improvised Munitions Handbook, using a wine bottle to cast a shaped explosive charge.

An event occurs at the end of the film that seems to defy all logic, but there's no way to discuss it here without ruining things for those of you who will see the movie. But that's the only quibble of consequence I can roust up in regard to Traitor, which combines outstanding cinematic storytelling with stellar performances. Both Cheadle and Pearce fully populate their roles, while Saïd Taghmaoui's Omar is a far more nuanced villain than we've come to expect from this kind of entertainment.

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