Review of Traitor (2008) by Jim M — 05 Sep 2009

Arrested in Yemen selling symtex to the al-Nathir terrorist group (stand in for al-Qaeda), Samir Horn meets and befriends one of al-Nathir's operatives, Omar, who stages a jail break. Joining al-Nathir Samir travels from Yemen, to France, London, Toronto, America and Halifax, whith a pair of FBI Agents on his tail. But Samir is not who he appears....

Solid modern day thriller about the trials and tribulations of a devout Muslim and Double (Possably Triple) Agent. Guy Pearce and Neil McDonough play the FBI agents well (even if the intelligeant Pearce/Ignorant McDonough relationship gets old fast). Don Cheadle carries the movie well hinting at the turmoil taking place within Samir (his father was a devout Muslim and man of peace who was murdered for his beliefs, Samir finds himself defending his father's ideals and betraying them at the same time). Said Taghmaoui as Omar is great as always portraying a character whom Samir befriends and in the end is only a few degrees off from where Samir finds himself. Aly Khan is great as a terrorist leader who has adopted to the western lifestyle so much so that Samir questions how he can still call himself a Muslim (Taqiyya is how Khan defends his lifestyle leading to one of the films several debates on Islamic Concepts). Film seems to have a good understanding of Islamic Fundamentalist/Terrorist networks, sleepers, double agents, and counter-terror tactics. Certainly not for action junkies but if you enjoy thrillers mixed with modern day politics you should be satisfied with this one.