Traitor 2008

Amy Nicholson, Boxoffice Magazine: Pearce has a few moments where a personality shines through, but he's overwhelmed by the fast, noisy pressures of a film shot in 17 cities and on three continents. Read more

Ben Mankiewicz, At the Movies: It was complicated but ultimately it failed in that attempt to deliver a complicated message. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: It tells a good, snakelike story, slithering in some unpredictable directions. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: The script seldom rises above formula, but its respectful treatment of Islam is both unusual and welcome. Read more

Joanne Kaufman, Wall Street Journal: Promising premise devolves into a by-the-numbers espionage thriller. Read more

Mark Rahner, Seattle Times: First-time director Jeffrey Nachmanoff, known for The Day After Tomorrow script, wrote the screenplay. Of all people, Steve Martin came up with the idea. It is neither wild nor crazy. Read more

Ruth Hessey, MovieTime, ABC Radio National: Let's just say this is a well paced thriller with a strong cast -- it's good to see Guy Pearce on screen -- but the terrorist threat which obsessed the recent Bush administration has been dwarfed by a couple of things... Read more

Nathan Rabin, AV Club: Without its mesmerizing lead performance, Traitor easily could have devolved into direct-to-DVD fodder. Instead, Cheadle illustrates how great acting can elevate standard-issue material into something much more haunting and ambiguous. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Cheadle is outstanding. That's no surprise; he's a fantastic actor. Here he's given a lot of room in which to navigate. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Traitor offers up one of the more maddeningly, gratifyingly complex lead characters seen in movies lately. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: [A] tense, talky and unusually thoughtful spy thriller. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: In the subgenre of post- 9/11 films, it falls between the serious, compelling Syriana and the slighter, action-packed Vantage Point. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Flat and just plain boring most of the time, Traitor wastes some fine actors -- Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Jeff Daniels and Said Taghmaoui -- and a topical story, finding no sparks in what should be an incendiary tale of terrorism. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: The wait isn't worth it in this fearmongering, opportunistic political/spy thriller, a slippery entertainment that's all feints and few punches thrown at a fight card of indistinguishable terrorists, Muslim and otherwise. Read more

Jennie Punter, Globe and Mail: 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 more

Tom Maurstad, Dallas Morning News: A confused and unsatisfying experience with some nice moments that don't amount to much. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: Perhaps because Traitor aims to be equal parts explosive action picture and serious-minded character drama, it never completely hits the mark in either regard. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: To call Traitor deeper than the average Hollywood thriller may not be saying much, but the film deserves credit for trying to both challenge and entertain its audience. Read more

David Denby, New Yorker: 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 more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Ultimately the film is both too contrived and too casual, both relentless in the way it manipulates its plot and sloppy in its understanding of the consequences. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: The twisty, turny Traitor succeeds where similarly topical thrillers often fail because, like its protagonist, it plays its cards close to the vest. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Ripped-from-the-headlines realism, top-drawer performances by Don Cheadle and Guy Pearce, a dandy 'ticking clock' story structure and a vast catalog of terrorist modus operandi make this as harrowing as it is timely. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: Observing the conventions of the millennial thriller, it succeeds in amping up the suspense. Yet it never fully engages the ethical conflicts it raises. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Traitor is smart, effective, and at times suspenseful. It's one of a very few terrorist-themed movies that presents its situation without resorting to exploitation or oversimplification. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Don Cheadle is such a good actor. If he were more of a showboat, he would be a bigger star. But he remains the go-to man for a film like this. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: Traitor is an earnest, efficient, serviceable thriller that makes a valiant effort to untangle some of the moral complexities of the post-9/11 world. Read more

Reyhan Harmanci, San Francisco Chronicle: Traitor delivers plot twists but few real surprises. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Cheadle usually melts seamlessly into his roles. He's less convincing here, however. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: Traitor gets a leg up thanks to a solid cast, including Guy Pearce, an underused Jeff Daniels and chiefly Cheadle's Horn, whose quiet dignity makes his blurred loyalties believable and his true sympathies indefinable. Read more

David Fear, Time Out: Read more

Tom Huddlestone, Time Out: 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. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Traitor 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. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: The first things to go in Cheadle's portrayal of such a knotted, inward man are spontaneity and a sense of humor. Read more

Philip Kennicott, Washington Post: 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 more