TRAITOR
2008
Written by Jeffrey Nachmanoff, based on a story by Steve Martin and Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Has there been a great post-9/11 thriller? Obviously, I'm not talking about any thriller released in the last seven years; there are plenty of great ones. But has there been a great movie in this new sub-genre, the post-9/11 thriller? With terrorists, government agents, political intrigue, or similar? With unsettling revelations and a genuine bravery in dealing with the effects 9/11 has had on America and the world at large? I don't think so. I would be loathe to call United 93 or World Trade Center post-9/11 thrillers; United 93 may be thrilling, but it's a devastating docudrama about what happened on the day in question, and World Trade Center is old-fashioned Hollywood melodrama at its best. Those are two of the only movies to directly deal with the events of that fateful September day, and the fact that nobody showed up to see them (or any of the numerous Iraq War movies) either shows an "It's-too-soon" mentality or general audience disinterest.
Nobody seems to be going to see Traitor either, or movies like it. The closest I can come to thinking of a movie which could qualify as a great post-9/11 thriller is Munich, but even there Spielberg funnels our fears and anxieties through the tragedy of the 1972 Munich Olympics. Where are the great thrillers dealing with these issues? Or do we even need them? Are they merely terrorist fearmongering or xenophobic rallying cries? When we have movies like United 93, Munich, Crash, No End in Sight, or even The Dark Knight dealing with the realities of today in varied and intelligent manners, why do studios continue to churn out these cliched, unimaginative thrillers which prey on and exploit America's basest fears? Movies, indeed, like Traitor.
I don't think the movie is necessarily ill-intentioned, it just doesn't know what the hell it wants to say or particularly how to say it. Don Cheadle stars as Samir Horn, a Sudan-born American whose father was killed in a car bombing when he was a child. His world irrevocably changed, Samir grows up to become a bomb-maker himself, and gets involved with a terrorist group led in part by Omar (Saïd Taghmaoui). Samir is a devout Muslim who knows the Koran backwards and forwards, and who believes in strictly following the word of God. Omar is no less a devout Muslim, but in his terrorist mindset, believes that God's wrath is to be employed by he and his men. This creates a distinct rift between Samir and Omar, but one which they manage to overcome with their burgeoning partnership, which in turn leads to a friendship. To the film's credit, this issue is explored rather well, though it's one its few interesting aspects.
Hot on Samir's trail are FBI agents Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) and Max Archer (Neal McDonough). As with Samir and Omar, these two feds are partners despite their differences: Clayton believes that violence is not the way, whereas Archer has no problem using a little intimidation to get what he wants. Good cop/bad cop. There's also a little-seen CIA agent played by Jeff Daniels, but to reveal his purpose would be to ruin the movie's little (very little) surprise, and since the movie's single brain-burning incident happens with him onscreen, I'm keeping mum.
Rather bizarrely, Traitor's story was thought up by Steve Martin (yes, that Steve Martin) while filming the 2003 "comedy" Bringing Down the House. (Though Traitor is a bad movie, Bringing Down the House is certainly worse.) How he managed to hook up with The Day After Tomorrow screenwriter Jeffrey Nachmanoff I don't know, but for Nachmanoff it shows at least a little growth. Traitor is unfocused and downright sloppy at times, but it's a million natural disasters better than the idiot blockbuster The Day After Tomorrow. Still, there are moments in the script which are just as silly as those in that movie, yet the cartoonish excess of Nachmanoff the screenwriter is tempered by Nachmanoff the director, who wields one moody, somber camera. There's lots of shakycam, which doesn't make any impact whatsoever artistically, as Nachmanoff uses it to retain the post-9/11 thriller's pre-requisite "You-are-so-THERE!!!" aesthetic. It kind of looks like a muddy TV movie; the British post-9/11 thriller The Hamburg Cell would be an apt comparison. Filmmakers need to stop abusing the shit out of shakycam, because it's becoming obvious that few of them know how to use it. (Speaking of, random thought: Would the shakycam Children of Men be considered a post-post-9/11 thriller? If so, let's make more.)
Similarly, all of the actors seem to be operating at a TV movie level. Don Cheadle, a wonderful actor fresh off of a sizzling performance in last year's Talk to Me (where the hell was his Oscar nomination?), is rarely allowed to display his full talents here, mostly staring off into space with those deep dark wells of despair that pass for eyes. Similarly, Guy Pearce, an actor who can be full of energy, seems almost neutered here. He is given perhaps the simplest character in the whole movie, as the justice-seeking federal agent, so I guess I can see why his performance is so bland, but what a waste. Perhaps I should've been clued in to what to expect when character actor Neal McDonough first appeared on the screen; there is something about that guy which I have never been able to stand, even in otherwise good movies. It's something in those eyes. Since Traitor isn't an otherwise good movie, his lack of any kind of acting ability has the tendency to stick out.
The lack of care put into the movie is obvious from the first scene, with the vaguely foreign-sounding drums we've heard again and again being played over the soundtrack as we see the crowded streets of Sudan. In fact, that's indicative of the movie as a whole: There is nothing new here. If it's supposed to be food for thought, it's been unthawed and reheated. It's chewy and edible, but a little past its expiration date. I don't think Traitor is racist or xenophobic or any of the other things I was talking about earlier, but as with most movies of its ilk, it is so confused and misguided that I fear it could be interpreted as such. Maybe one day there'll be a great post-9/11 thriller, one which can deal with the matters directly instead of through the prism of the past or superheroes (not that there's anything at all wrong with those approaches). But right now I think the country needs to wake up and deal with itself in a way that doesn't require 24-style camerawork and frequent explosions.
- Arlo J. Wiley
September 12, 2008
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