Traitor and Vantage Point (2008)

"Traitor" should have been at least good. It spins political wars with ease and stars the under-used Guy Pearce ("Memento") and the always great Don Cheadle ("Hotel Rwanda"). But it doesn't work.

Sudan born and American raised ex-soldier turned arms dealer Samir Horn (Cheadle) is busted in a raid by FBI agent Roy Clayton (Pearce) and Max Archer (Neal McDonough) in the Middle East. Bounced to prison, Samir meets up with Islamic terrorists (including Said Taghmaoui) and eventually escapes with the evil zealots and begins the work of a religious-bent bomber. Archer and Clayton work to stop him.

"Traitor" wants to have a tricky plot, and presents one, but to no avail. Why? Because not for a second did I believe that Cheadle's wise, heroic eyes can hold evil. And Pearce, God bless him he's nearly always wonderful, fails to faithfully portray an American-born Southern Baptist.

Another hitch: the contrived ending is too neat, and makes even the happy conclusion of "Eagle Eye" seem realistic. I truly like the points that writer /director Jeffrey Nachmanoff tries to push forward: That not all Muslims are terrorists nor Arab, and that not all Arabs are Muslims. But the film just fumbles everything else.

Through sheer talent and charisma, Cheadle is terrific as a tortured soul. A scene of Samir praying and weeping in a hotel bathroom is fantastic. Jeff Daniels also has a good, brief role as a CIA chief willing to cross the same lines as a terrorist to reach his self-perceived goals of righteousness. The film's only surprise -- Comedian Steve Martin has story credit. C+

Said Taghmaoui also pops up in "Vantage Point" as a terrorist of non-religious persuasion hell bent on taking out the president of the United States (William Hurt) who is in Spain for a peace conference. There's not much peace, though, as gun fire, explosions, car chases, mass hysteria and girls losing ice cream cones smash upon each other. I'm serious on that last point by the way -- a lost ice cream cone is a major plot point.

Dennis Quaid, hugely under-appreciated as an actor, is heroic Secret Service agent Thomas Barnes, a guy who once took multiple bullets for his boss (Hurt) before and gladly will do so again. Told in the style of the Japanese classic "Rashomon," this thriller shows how Barnes re-acts to an attack on the POTUS in eight or so viewpoints, before settling off to a supposed slam-bang climax. We follow the POTUS, Barnes, a TV producer (Sigourney Weaver), an American tourist (Forest Whitaker) another SS agent (Matthew Fox of "Lost"), a shady maybe/maybe not Spanish policeman (Eduardo Noriega) and others.

Each vantage point is meant to show us different pieces of a complex conspiracy-laden puzzle and it works quite well for 30 minutes of excitement. But, dang, if I didn't spot the surprise bad guy right away. And that slam-bang climax is pure junk as Barnes turns from wounded soul to unbeatable unbelievable Superman, too many coincidences pile up and the never-explained ruthless, nasty terrorists suddenly form a conscious and cause a real pile up.

Let me say this: A better director/writer such as Guillermo del Toro would have let a certain character be mowed down in the street, and shocked the audience into a stupor. But not in this standard Hollywood vehicle directed by Pete Travis and written by Barry Levy. Quaid's character is a stiff, and his talent barely saves the film. Hurt looks bored, while Fox and Whitaker are just not believable in their roles. A great set up followed by a huge body splat on the pavement. C-