Movie review: 'Traitor'

Like Matt Damon's Jason Bourne, Don Cheadle's Samir Horn is an extremely reluctant, traumatized action hero: The opening scene is a flashback of a young Horn watching his father get killed in a Jeep explosion. He would probably object to even being called an action hero, although his ninja moves and steady supply of beautiful leather jackets give him away. In that deeply American way, he's just a guy doing what he's got to do. But Horn might have the honor of being the first Muslim action hero in an American big budget film. "Traitor" tells the story of former Army Special Forces explosives expert Horn, a devout Muslim and suspected terrorist, who is hunted by FBI man Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce of "Memento," who looks like a gaunt Brad Pitt) in a multinational chase. They first meet when police in Yemen, where Clayton and his partner happen to be, pick up an uncooperative Horn. The evidence mounts that Horn, who had been living in Chicago, has gone to the dark side. Writer-director Jeffrey Nachmanoff got the inspiration for the film from none other than executive producer Steve Martin, who apparently began talking about "what if" scenarios a few years ago. This is Nachmanoff's second full-length feature, his first big-budget one, and he shows an excellent understanding of pacing. The narrative is bifurcated, moving between Clayton's hunt and Horn's dangerous ascent up the ranks of an al Qaeda-like terrorist group that he joins in a Yemen prison, where he befriends a young follower named Omar (Saïd Taghmaoui from "The Kite Runner"). Although the action is broken up by occasional conversations about the nature of belief, the morality of terrorism and factoids about Islam (did you know that the literal translation of the word "Islam" is "submission"?), the film only accessorizes with deep thoughts. Horn, from the start, is the moral compass of the film, risking death to give a man food in a Yemeni prison yard, and broad hints as to his real identity are dropped from the get-go. Like any number of Western heroes and comic book good guys, Horn is a man born into his position of hero. It chose him. Cheadle plays Horn with hangdog eyes and a dour face; he takes no joy from his physical prowess, bomb-making ability and stylish wardrobe. Among "The Dark Knight," the Bourne trilogy and this, one longs for another silly Bond movie. At least Bond gets the girl every now and then, and smiles. SOURCE:SFGATE.COM