Traitor: Critic Reviews

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.

Traitor, a somber, absorbing and only moderately preposterous new thriller written and directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff, manages an impressive feat of economy.

Some well-meant but fantastically flaccid and perfunctory gestures of friendship towards the Muslim world are the foundation of this empty thriller.

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.

Traitor traffics in the cliches of the terrorist chase film -- including the usual stereotypes of Muslims -- while trying not to succumb to outright bigotry.

Traitor offers up one of the more maddeningly, gratifyingly complex lead characters seen in movies lately.

The twisty, turny Traitor succeeds where similarly topical thrillers often fail because, like its protagonist, it plays its cards close to the vest.

Promising premise devolves into a by-the-numbers espionage thriller.

[A] tense, talky and unusually thoughtful spy thriller.

A confused and unsatisfying experience with some nice moments that don't amount to much.

In the subgenre of post- 9/11 films, it falls between the serious, compelling Syriana and the slighter, action-packed Vantage Point.

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.

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.

It tells a good, snakelike story, slithering in some unpredictable directions.

The script seldom rises above formula, but its respectful treatment of Islam is both unusual and welcome.

Observing the conventions of the millennial thriller, it succeeds in amping up the suspense. Yet it never fully engages the ethical conflicts it raises.

Cheadle usually melts seamlessly into his roles. He's less convincing here, however.

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.

Cheadle is outstanding. That's no surprise; he's a fantastic actor. Here he's given a lot of room in which to navigate.

The first things to go in Cheadle's portrayal of such a knotted, inward man are spontaneity and a sense of humor.

A solid, intelligent international thriller showcasing the underrated Don Cheadle in an intriguing and morally ambiguous role, Traitor is the best end-of-August movie I've seen in years.

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.

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.

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.

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.