Traitor (PG-13, 2008)

Does a pious man have a place in the war against terror? That's the essential question behind the tense drama TRAITOR. Don Cheadle stars as Samir Horn, a devout Muslim-American with a military past who finagles his way into the inner sanctum of a European terrorist cell. Thrown in a Yemeni prison for an arms deal gone awry, Horn befriends a prisoner who not only helps him escape but proceeds to recruit him for a dangerous, destructive mission. But Horn isn't what he seems. Not even an FBI agent (Guy Pearce) in hot pursuit knows who he really is -- or just how or why he came to be in the enemy's inner circle in the first place.

Taut and intriguing -- for the most part, anyway -- Traitor succeeds on a basic level thanks to Cheadle's acting prowess. Rather than playing Horn as a typical action-hero prototype, he creates a character so complicated and conflicted that the movie nearly transcends its flaws. Nearly. But it does have flaws. For starters, it skates over too many details -- how Horn metamorphosed from government soldier to arms trader, how his tangled web got its start. And while it certainly attempts to present a more full-bodied representation of extremists and extremism, the movie relies a little too much on shorthand, even though it willingly takes on a complex subject.

If not for the great acting ensemble, the enterprise would come across as paint-by-numbers. As it is, for a thriller, it feels slack and predictable in places -- as in Horn's encounters with a prison bully and how his response buys him the respect of others, for example. And, at times, it's self-consciously ponderous. But there's no denying the film's timeliness and its laudable efforts at injecting humanity into a hot-button debate. Director Jeffrey Nachmanoff, who also co-wrote the script, doesn't just rely on dogma and polemics, and for that he deserves some kudos.

Studio: Overture Films
Director: Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Cast: Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Jeff Daniels
Genre: Thriller
Run time: 113 minutes
Theatrical release: August 27, 2008
DVD release: December 16, 2008
MPAA Rating: PG-13
MPAA explanation: intense violent sequences, thematic material and brief language.