Traitor Review

“Traitor” starring Don Cheadle and Guy Pearce is a good movie. Yes, it covers the “blurred lines” theme of undercover agent movies. But this film adds the religious faith aspect to it that makes it a compelling story. Plus Don Cheadle is a very good actor. I saw him once at the Toyota dealership getting his Prius serviced. Good car. Good actor. Good film. Traitor goes into the world of terrorist cells and how they work, exploring how the attacks are created and carried out. It brings a human side to the people involved without giving them sympathy for their horrible actions. If we as Americans can see this side maybe we can understand how someone is driven to this. Maybe not. Maybe we will take the approach that one of the FBI agents has. Or maybe we will have the view of Guy Pearce’s character. The son of a Baptist preacher who brought his Phd in Arabic to the FBI. The film tries to show how we need to understand our enemies in order to defeat them. Rather than just shoot first and give them a coke later. It also shows the many sides of religious fanatacism. Guy Pearce says when he was a boy in the south the klan would burn a cross and call it Christianity. Don Cheadle’s character is fighting for the Islam that he believes in. Not the hate filled Islam of terrorists. All the other characters in this film are interesting and compliment the lead actors well. I can’t think of a Don Cheadle film that was horrible. Because he is too good of an actor to let that happen. His portrayal of the grey area of counter-espionage was stirring and made me want to be a spy. Not the shaken-not-stirred kind. But the sleeping in a cave, making a bomb to the glow of my enemies buring head, kind. Ok, that might have gone a little over the edge but let’s get out there and take care of some business like Eric Bana in Munich. Another good film that shows how it is not so black and white, the world that we live in. So grab your Koran and FBI badge and see “Traitor”. Directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff. PALM STRIKE!