Cheadle Cheated
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Just got done watching the latest Don Cheadle vehicle Traitor and I’m pissed.
If I had tens of millions to invest I’d buy out the government of some tropical nation and market it as a high fashion getaway to attract models. Better yet, set up a model dojo - to attract wannabes without the attitude/self-esteem to resist my advances. I’m watching Next Top Model right now - it may be coloring my daydreams. Dating Domina Dawson and beatific Belucci when not writing this blog, which would have license to broadcast the entertainment we discuss, would be most likely. Still, if I plunked down a chunk of bank on a movie as good as Traitor I’d DAMN sure to market the muthafucka.
How long after Equilibrium came out did you see it? Have you seen Equilibrium? You haven’t? Go see the shit and I’ll wait here. … … … Back? Wasn’t that the shit!? Taye got FACED !! Traitor is the same way in terms of media attention. If I didn’t have this Dominion, or you citizens to proclaim cool stuff too, I wouldn’t have been thinking about some non-TV topic to write about and would’ve caught it on DVD, if I remembered. Advertised as this year’s “Bourne Ultimatum” is ass-headed. You set the movie up to be compared with another that’s already been seen when it may not be comparable and that makes your flick seem a shallow shadow of the bigger picture. Stupid, the marketing execs should be tied in celluloid film tight enough to break the skin and splashed with boiling butter.
Besides the main characters having rhyming last names - Samir Horn and Jason Bourne - Traitor is to the Ultimatum what the Departed is to Casino Royale. They both have guns and international intrigue, the comparison ends there. The movie begins as Training Day, then slowly becomes the Departed and ends like Donnie Brasco around the theme of The Siege. Now you can go watch all movies four films back to back, or I can try to elaborate without giving spoilers. OK, … I’ll go on, crybabies.
Cheadle’s Samir Horn is a Sudanese-American man of deep faith in God/Allah. The question is does he view Allah as the Muslim version of God, or God as the American version of Allah. It seems a translation difference, but part of the depth of his character is that it’s a true cultural divide. He’s a good man with good allies on both sides committed to fighting evil, which exists on both sides. There are revelations given in the film that suggest whether or not Horn is a traitor, and if so to which side, but they’re able to keep the tension mostly intact until the climax, though its subject does change mid-film. I’ll only say that he is, in fact, True to the title.
International intrigue with Islam involved equals the War on Terror theme. If this is a spoiler for you, with a title like “Traitor”, you’re probably new to the blog and get turned off by big words like “international” - thanks for stopping by. Most films covering this … across the world conflict feature the apparent futility of it, it’s toll on innocents and the way it contrasts with past wars in the good old days when enemies were really evil (Nazis) or at least wore self-identifying uniforms (Viet Cong). It’s often a one-sided account from the US perspective. Writer/director Nachmanoff does a great job of cover both sides, answering some of the questions regarding “Why they hate us.” The treatment of American Intelligence draws parallels with the Fundamentalists in regard to how innocents are views: sadly expendable in the service of defeating a great evil. No group or agency is explicitly named, but terrorism is only a tactic, not ideology, applicable to either side.
Hunting Samir is devout Christian FBI agent Clayton - played by Guy Pearce - yeah, he’s in this move too! You’d think they’d double bill him with Cheadle given his caliber. More butter for the bastards. He could’ve been used more but serves well as a counterpoint to Samir. They’ve both played better characters but as elements of the plot and direction fulfill their roles more than adequately - with emphasis on Cheadle’s ability to portray complexity. Props go to Said Taghmaoui who plays the Fundamentalist recruiter Omar. He’s played a ton of terrorists in the past but this time he’s allowed to portray a sympathetic character given his friendship with Samir.
If political thrillers are your thing, and it’s been a while since we had a good one that wasn’t bullet ridden, check it out in theatres.
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