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movie review - Traitor

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

This is a smart flick about the "war on terror". It features the tale of an civilian agent of the CIA, employed to go under cover to uncover and upset extremist Muslim terrorist activities globally. It also follows the two CIA agents who know nothing of his assignment but who come across the civilian's trail repeatedly in pursuit of their own dealings with the same extremist organizations.

Setting a brisk pace and bouncing from the Middle East to Europe to Canada then the US and ultimately finishing up in "the ass end of Canada" (Nova Scotia), the plot deals with several issues surrounding the modern "war on terror". The recruitment of young suicide bombers is handled better in this movie than it was in Syriana, and the international nature of the terrorist organizations seems less contrived than in Munich.

The story is ably acted by the always-excellent Don Cheadle and Guy Pearce, and happily Saïd Taghmaoui gets a more substantial role than he has in other American movies (where he seemed to mainly reprise his role from Three Kings).

This is a good all-round drama that maintains a realistic tone without either pulling its punches or going into hysterics. Worth watching.

Recommended.