‘Traitor’ tackles thorny issues

Jeremy Nachmanoff’s Traitor, which opened Wednesday, has absolutely none of the rollicking, swashbuckling sensibility or characteristics that have become the hallmark of espionage and action thrillers. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

The movie’s seriousness and intensity, coupled with the constant tragedy and moral complexity, can sometimes be overwhelming, but the intention is to make audiences carefully consider and evaluate the questions being explored, rather than get lost in escapist fantasy and visual splendor.

The film’s another triumph for Don Cheadle, whose character Samir Horn is full of contradictions, quirks and emotional problems. As a child Horn saw his father, a prime exponent of religious understanding and cross-cultural communication, blown to bits in his homeland of Sudan by a car bomb. Many years later, Horn has been trained in combat and weapons, and become a skilled special forces operative now on his own undercover quest.

But what’s always lurking underneath the surface is the damage Horn’s multiple roles have done to his psyche.

Whether he’s dealing with fanatics in Yemen, Canada or the United States, there’s a tortured look on his face and a guilt-ridden persona that’s impossible to miss, even when he seems at ease setting bombs and making plans.

Horn’s also a devout Muslim who truly believes the canons of his faith, yet constantly finds himself breaking laws and doing vicious things while trying to stop a greater evil.

Because the plot here is rather standard, Nachmanoff (who also teamed with writer Steve Martin on the story) wisely buttresses things on Samir Horn and the toll and suffering resulting from his double life.

He also periodically raises red flags about the politics and efficiency of the war against terror, though in this case it’s presented as a fight against religious fanaticism. He’s very careful not to brand all followers of Islam as radical, a point that gets during the depictions of Horn and his interaction with fellow Muslims.

Other key figures include fellow agents Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) and Max Archer (Neal McDonough). Clayton’s the holder of a doctorate in Arabic studies as well as the son of a Baptist minister, while Archer’s a hard-edged type anxious to snuff out the bad guys without any concern about any political/cultural crud.

There’s also Swiss-educated Omar (Said Taghmaoui), whose zeal and faith are matched by his hatred of the West. But he’s not presented as a cliché, but rather a true believer whose legitimate passion has been exploited by people like Fareed (Alyy Khan), the mastermind behind multiple suicide bombings and planned terrorist attacks.

Plus, there’s a loose cannon CIA guy running around (Jeff Daniels) and a woman Horn loves (Archie Panjabi), but must reject due to his circumstances.

Samir Horn knows there’s a price he must pay for his quest to be successful, and watching him wind his way through various tests and situations is the primary lure of Traitor.

The film raises (and to some degree answers) the question of whether actions taken against evil that cause tragedy and suffering to the innocent are justified. It’s also filmed in numerous locations on multiple continents, with footage shot in Chicago, Washington D.C., Toronto, Nova Scotia, plus plot angles that link events in London, Marseille, Nice and Spain.

Traitor may not have the intricate plotting or spectacular sequences and special effects of some other films in this genre, but it offers acting that’s strong enough to overcome almost any other problems that occur in the production.

Traitor