I’m struggling to review this film.  Like any good thriller, it contains a key twist in the later stages which is supposed to catch you off guard.  I can’t talk about it in detail however as I’d be ruining the movie for you.  What I will say is that I found the “twist” to be very predictable.  I had it picked within the opening 10 minutes and I think other people will do the same.  This leaves me asking the question – was it this obvious for a reason?  I don’t know.

Our main protagonist is Samir Horn (Cheadle).  To steal a line from Austin Powers, I can best describe Samir as an “international man of mystery”.  He was born in Sudan where he saw his father killed in a terrorist explosion.  He was raised in the United States and would become a member of the U.S. Army.  Now, Samir is in Yemen and has been linked to major terrorist organisations.  Whose side is he on?  Does he even have a side?

Trying to answer these questions is FBI Agent Roy Clayton (Pearce).  A number of serious terrorist attacks have taken place across the globe in recent months and Clayton believes that Samir is involved.  He needs to track him down.  The situation becomes even more critical when word comes through of an imminent attack on home soil.

An interesting piece of trivia about Traitor is the original idea for the film came from actor Steve Martin.  He shared his ideas with a producer on the set of Bringing Down The Hosue and that starting the ball rolling.  The concept also grabbed the attention of Don Cheadle (Rotel Rwanda) and Guy Pearce (Memento).  Under the direction of Jeffrey Nachmanoff, they have produced two strong performances.

Look, it’s not that bad a film, but I can’t help but reflect on the disappointing ending.  I think I was expecting more realism and less action.  There’s a scene on a bus at the very end which I’ll use as an example.  How could this really happen?  You’ll understand what I mean if you see the movie.