Traitor (2008)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Jeffrey Nachmanoff

Writers (WGA):

Jeffrey Nachmanoff (screenplay)
Steve Martin (story) ...

Release Date:

27 August 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The truth is complicated.

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Bomb | FBI | Devout | FBI Agent

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

Don Cheadle	...	Samir Horn
Guy Pearce	...	Roy Clayton
Saïd Taghmaoui	...	Omar
Neal McDonough	...	Max Archer
Alyy Khan	...	Fareed
Archie Panjabi	...	Chandra Dawkin
Raad Rawi	...	Nathir
Hassam Ghancy	...	Bashir
Mozhan Marnò	...	Leyla (as Mozhan Marno)
Adeel Akhtar	...	Hamzi
Jeff Daniels	...	Carter
Lorena Gale	...	Dierdre Horn
Scali Delpeyrat	...	Inspector Gilles
Mehdi Ortelsberg	...	Ali (as Medhi Ortelsberg)
Aizoun Abdelkader	...	Ahmed

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense violent sequences, thematic material and brief language.

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Arabic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:PG-13 (certificate #44487) | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M | Singapore:M18 | Germany:12 | Czech Republic:15 | Norway:15 | Finland:K-13 | Ireland:15A | UK:12A | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Overture Films

Trivia:

When Samir buys an apple on a market in Marseilles you can clearly see the French word "traiteur" (in English: delicatessen), similar to the word "traître" (in English: traitor) on the awning in the background, when he leaves the market.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: During the scene where Samir is running into the apartment complex in Chicago while running away from the FBI agents, the original agents following him radio in that they are at the address "128 S. Randolph." There is no S. Randolph St. in the city of Chicago as Randolph runs East/West. However movie-makers frequently use nonexistent addresses, equivalent to telephone nos that start with "555-" to avoid legal issues.

Quotes:

Nathir: In chess and in war the key to winning is to anticipate what your opponent will do in advance. Think two moves ahead. The art of asymmetrical warfare is less about inflicting damage than provoking a response. Terrorism is theater. And theater is always performed for an audience. Ours is the American people. But they are dispersed across a large country. The question is how to convince them that nowhere is safe.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: (#8.30)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Ayadjidjè

Traitor is great film with genuine action, but it also makes you think.

For the life of me, I still can't figure out why Traitor is getting such poor promotion, but if I were the studio I'd be trying my damnedest to get people into the theatre to this. It has got a great cast in Guy Pearce, Jeff Daniels and the lead role by Don Cheadle. Don't be fooled by the commercials that say that "Traitor is this year's Bourne Ultimatem", because this is clearly not true. While there is plenty of mystery and conspiracy to go around, this is a completely different situation that really makes the viewer think at the end of the movie. The great thing about Traitor is the fact that politics aren't heavy-handed or one-sided a la Syriana or any of the other cookie cutter political thrillers out there. The film really allows the viewer to draw their one conclusions based their own individual moral compass. I would say that anyone who is NOT looking for just another Michael Bay-esquire popcorn flick should totally love Traitor.

-J.