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Bookmark this pageTraitor (2008)
Director: Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Movie review
From Time Out London
The war on terror inspires works of earnest mediocrity: from ‘Rendition’ to ‘The Kingdom’, Hollywood’s efforts have resulted in clumsy, downbeat thrillers awash with over-saturated colour and wailing pseudo-ethnic music.If ‘Traitor’ is a cut above, it’s largely thanks to Don Cheadle, whose weighty, likeable but ambiguous turn anchors an overly complicated story. Cheadle is an American arms dealer imprisoned in Yemen, who rediscovers his Muslim roots and joins the jihad only to find himself shipped to train suicide attackers in the US. The first half is dark and compelling – it draws us into the world of the terrorist and displays a courageous ethical and narrative complexity.
But, 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.
Author: Tom Huddleston
Time Out London Issue 2014, March 26 – April 1, 2009
User reviews of this film
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- Yuri said...
- Posted on Oct 16 2009 08:07 Excellent film.
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- sally said...
- Posted on Apr 01 2009 13:27 no comment
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- ieuan said...
- Posted on Mar 26 2009 13:34 good
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Cast & crew
Director: Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Cast: Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Saïd Taghmaoui, Jeff Daniels, Neal McDonough, Aly Khan, Archie Panjabi full cast
Rated: 12A
Duration: 114 mins
UK Release: Mar 27 2009
US Release: Aug 29 2008
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