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34
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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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16
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61
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79
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69
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64
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69
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You, the Living
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Traitor

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 29 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 36 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by:
Steve Martin (story)
Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Directed by: Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Release Date:
Theatrical: August 27, 2008
DVD: December 16, 2008
Running Time: minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for intense violent sequences, thematic material and brief language
Starring Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Jeff Daniels, Neal McDonough, Archie Panjabi, Alyy Kahn, and Said Taghmaoui
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. A mysterious figure with a web of connections to terrorist organization, Horn has a knack for emerging on the scene just as a major operation goes down. The inter-agency task force looking into the case meets with Carter, a veteran CIA contractor who seemingly has his own agenda and Max Archer, a fellow FBI agent. The task force links Horn to a prison break in Yemen, a bombing in Nice and a raid in London, but a tangle of contradictory evidence emerges, forcing Clayton to question whether his quarry is a disaffected former military operative or something far more complicated. Obsessed with discovering the truth, Clayton tracks Horn across the globe as the elusive ex-soldier burrows deeper and deeper into a world of shadow and intrigue. (Overture Films)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
The film is a genuinely gripping tale about international terrorism that hopscotches across three continents.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Josh Rosenblatt
If you're looking for a few hours of mindless, uncomplicated, air-conditioned escapism to get you through a hot late-summer's evening, I'd recommend you look some place other than Traitor.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
Without its mesmerizing lead performance, Traitor easily could have devolved into direct-to-DVD fodder.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The movie proceeds quickly, seems to know its subject matter, is fascinating in its portrait of the inner politics and structure of the terrorist group, and comes uncomfortably close to reality. But what holds it together is the Cheadle character.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
An uncommonly intelligent espionage thriller that explores the moral and ethical dilemmas faced by agents who go deep undercover in the service of their country.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
A tough, taut, mostly well-executed morality parable and thriller that explores some of the bitter ironies of this strange religious vendetta in which America unwittingly finds itself.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
Problems aside, this is a good, twisty, absorbing work.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
The film's a propulsive international espionage thriller, built on the hurry-scurry bones of the "Bourne" movies.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
A thriller that's frequently implausible but almost always thoughtful. It asks us to rethink the way we see Muslims
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
A somber, absorbing and only moderately preposterous new thriller.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
Don Cheadle, wiry and wired, delivers an electrifying performance in Traitor.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
Traitor is "Syriana" for dummies, a globe-hopping, multi-character look at the war between America and Islamic terrorists that keeps things as relatively simple as an episode of 24. Not that there's anything wrong with that: 24 is a really good show. But it doesn't pretend to be something it's not, either.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
Can't seem to decide whether it wants to be an edge-of-the-seat action thriller or a more contemplative and intellectual drama about religion and terrorism. Somehow, in trying to have it both ways, it doesn't completely succeed at either.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
Brandishes physical verisimilitude and intelligent seriousness but proves unable to really get inside its chameleon-like central character.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
Pearce may be the other big star in Traitor, and while his performance is serviceable, it doesn't cut deeply. Taghmaoui, as a radical motivated by moral certainty, is the real actor to watch here.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Joe Neumaier
Nachmanoff fills the movie with a sense of gripping, '70s-style grittiness that helps undercut the web-of-evil tone.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
It's Cheadle's rich emotionality and sense of humor that have gone seriously missing in Traitor.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell
Its easy to see why Don Cheadle wanted to play Samir Horn, the hero of the post-9/11 thriller Traitor. Cheadles face is basically a perfect delivery system for woe, sadness and internal conflict. And Samir a deep-cover operative trying to infiltrate a terrorist outfit has to make brutal Sophies Choices roughly three times a day.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Chuck Wilson
The movie's first hour is well-done, but realism and insight go out the window as soon as Samir crosses the U.S. border.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Reyhan Harmanci
The film is stylishly shot, although the current action-movie look might be dated in a few years.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Philip Kennicott
Traitor traffics in the cliches of the terrorist chase film -- including the usual stereotypes of Muslims -- while trying not to succumb to outright bigotry.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joanne Kaufman
Ultimately, Traitor is a movie at war with itself.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jennie Punter
Traitor becomes too busy, ultimately frustrating, and never delivers on its tantalizing promise of offering a little insight into terrorists' motives – and it's even got an inside man.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Robert Koehler
Cheadle's innate goodness is the film's main dilemma, since the truth under the story's surface (which we won't reveal here) can be contained for only so long, and with ever-diminishing dramatic returns.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
A slippery entertainment that's all feints and few punches thrown at a fight card of indistinguishable terrorists, Muslim and otherwise.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
Based on a story by Steve Martin of all people, the script seldom rises above formula (Guy Pearce and Neal McDonough are especially ill served as a pair of starchy FBI agents), but its respectful treatment of Islam is both unusual and welcome.
Read Full Review >The New Yorker David Denby
The filmmakers, I think, got in over their heads and couldn't decide whether they were making an action thriller or a drama of conscience; they wound up flubbing both.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 36 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Kevin M gave it a10:
Great film - as an Arabic student, it gave an accurate portrayal of what Yemen culture and prison life would have been like. Plus, Don Cheadle is amazing in this role - he encompasses it perfectly.
Lyle S. gave it a6:
Forgettable - not a must watch - I'm sure the Jihad portrait is the reason the critics lashed out at the film and I'm not comfortable with it either.
sid n. gave it a9:
Very good movie with similar suspense. plot is unwrapped flawlessly. keeps you hooked to the movie.
Cheryl N gave it a9:
Great Movie. Don Cheadle was very believable in his role, and I was genuinely surprised at the plot twists throughout the movie. One of the aspects of the movie that I really enjoyed was the music. It was phenomenal and I immediately came home and downloaded the soundtrack. I think it was just an all around well produced, well acted, and well executed film. One of the few movies that was worth my money so far this year.
Chuck V. gave it a9:
Edge of the seat action. Don Cheadle is superb. Felt like I was watching a reality show.
Trentt L. gave it a10:
Daring movie. We haven't really seen black men in roles like this before and Cheadle does this with a depth of character that many action films lack. It is not all one liners or cowboy attitude. The character is intelligent, conflicted, capable and at most times "cool" in a believable way. Critics are doing a good job of managing the expectations of viewers. Glad I saw this one before reading the reviews (which seem to contain more spoilers than usual).
Jae S. gave it a10:
I can't believe this movie isn't getting better reviews from the so called professional critics. They will probably rate bangcock nights higher. This might be the best movie in it's respective genre I have ever seen.
