When I go to see a movie, all I want is a great story, powerful performances, a few laughs and a way of looking at the world that challenges my mind. Is that too much to ask? :)
Okay...that is too much to ask of every movie, I know. But in this case, Hollywood has delivered.
Traitor is a pulse-pounding thriller. But it's more than that. It's the story of a man of faith (Hotel Rwanda's Don Cheadle) stuck in the middle of the war on terror.
I was shocked that critics were 'meh' on this movie. I was riveted. It worked as a mystery, as a thriller, and as a meditation on the boundaries between religious conviction and civil duty.
Another surprise: The moview was co-written by Steve Martin. Yes, the legendary comedian who, nonetheless, is in the Pink Panther remakes.
The biggest surprise: this is from the same director that brought us the clunky piece of eco-disaster The Day After Tomorrow - Jeffrey Nachmanoff.
I also think that, like Hotel Rwanda, the movie works as political propoganda. I can't help but think that this is the sort of movie that could actually change hearts and minds in regards to radical Islam. It didn't paint a black and white picture of the west versus the middle east, but recognized the tensions and hypocrisy in both...presenting compelling portraits of both an FBI straight-arrow (LA Confidential's Guy Pearce) that is the son of a baptist preacher AND a terrorist cell leader (Saïd Taghmaoui) trying to stay true to his convictions.
Ignore the critics. This one is a must see.
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Joey Aszterbaum is the Hemet Home Loan Guy and a member of the Active Rain social network of real estate professionals. To buy or refinance your home in Hemet, Riverside County, or California visit www.HemetHomeLoans.com or call 951.571.5751.
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Joey - I need to check this one out. Don Cheadle is one of my favorite actors.