Our Kind of Traitor - directed by Susanna White
Screenplay: Hossein Amini
I like a smart, slow burn spy thriller and there are few writers as adept at them as John le Carre.
I thoroughly enjoyed "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" and out and out loved (and still do) "The Constant Gardner".
If you think that either of those are boring then you will probably feel the same way about "Our Kind of Traitor".
If, like me you are onboard with them then this one is worth a look.
The story here is that Ewan McGregor's everyman university Professor Perry and his wife Gail (Naomie Harris) are on holiday in Marrakech trying to repair a marriage damaged by infidelity (his) when they meet a loud, friendly Russian named Dima (Stellan Skarsgard)
He plays host to Perry, coercing him into attending a high end part and then playing tennis with him the next morning.
Dima later confides in Perry that he is a financial advisor within the Russian Mafia and hands him a memory stick pleading with him to take it back to London with him and hand it in to the authorities.
This he does and before you can say International Intrigue Perry and Gail are off to Paris to re-connect with Dima to help MI-6 broker a deal for more information.
A local British MP (Northam) is involved in a deal to bring Russian money over via a newly set up - and very dodgy- bank.
Now despite the presence of the current Miss Moneypenny herself (Harris) this is not a James Bond flick and there are no high speed car chases, rooftop snipers or precarious dangling from tall structures.
Tension is derived from situations such as the hustling of Dima's family out of a Hotel where a meeting of all the bad types is taking place.
There are a couple of fist fights and a little bit of a shoot out but generally speaking this is subdued stuff.
Aiding immeasurably in adding tension is the fine score by Marcelo Zarvos.
Piano, strings and percussion combine well to make even simple scenes of cars moving through city streets seem steeped with danger.
Likewise the cinematography by frequent Danny Boyle collaborator Anthony Dod Mantle is slick in all the places it needs to be and restrained at other times.
It's a great looking movie.
The opening sequence in the snow is a stunner for example.
Now the not so good news.
Damian Lewis plays MI-6 man Hector.
He is trying so, so hard to be terribly, terribly British and it doesn't work.
I was constantly reminded of Lee Evans' character in "There's Something About Mary" when he is pretending to be British.
Note that Evans is actually British but played an American trying to sound British.
While Evans is supremely good at mimicry and pulls off the neat trick of playing an American almost pulling of the British accent that he naturally speaks Lewis doesn't fare so well.
I found his performance distracting in the extreme.
Why the filmmakers didn't cast Jeremy Northam in this role and give Northam's role to Lewis is beyond me but I would imagine the answer is in the relative star power of each.
Northam may be on the downslope of his career slope and Lewis still on the up but the former has proved time and time again over the years that he can play understated menace with the best.
Hector is supposed to be the character whose intentions are not completely clear.
Will he betray Dima for his own ends?
Is he prepared to lose Perry and Gail in the interests of National security?
His accent and overplayed expressions distracted me to the point that I stopped asking these questions.
Also an issue is a plot that is far too predictable.
Not in the broad strokes but certainly in the scene to scene detail.
Every major turn can be seen a mile away.
When one man suddenly tells another not to join in him a particular scene we know what is coming.
When it is revealed that one of Dima's daughters is in love with a Russain thug in pursuit of the family a major set piece is revealed well in advance of it actually occurring.
I am stopping short of accusing this one of being cliched but it is perilously close to a fair charge.
There are attempts to add some depth and intrigue with the revelation that Perry cheated on Gail with a student and she has not forgiven him yet and also the rather thin detailing of Hector having been setup by Northam's crooked politician Aubrey last time they tangled.
All in all I liked this film but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't expecting more from it.
Le Carre is a class act and there is enough talent here to think that this could have been a home run.
The screenplay from Hossein Amini is not his best work.
This is the man who gave us "Drive" and "Snow White and the Huntsman" - two movies that I genuinely love.
I have not seen any of director Susanna White's previous work either but she is not amazing at action scenes and given that this film doesn't have many those that are there needed to impress.
The fist fighting scenes are a blur of confusion when they could have easily been shot with more restraint and been more effective.
For fans of this sort of spy flick there is still plenty to enjoy though and I am certainly recommending it.
But oh- what it could have been!
RATING: 73 / 100
CONCLUSION: A decent spy thriller that could have been great if not for a sour performance from Lewis and too few surprises in the plot. Still good for fans of this sort of thing.
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Naomie Harris, Stellan Skarsgard, Damian Lewis, Saskia Reeves, Jeremy Northam, Radivoje Bukvic, Grigoriy Dobrygin, Alicia von Rittberg, Jana Perez, Velibor Topic, Pawel Szajda, Mark Gatiss
Screenplay: Hossein Amini
Music Score by: Marcelo Zarvos
Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle
Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle
Edited by: Tariq Anwar & Lucia Zuchetti
Running Time: 108 minutes
Language: English
Rated: R13 - Violence, profanity, nudity & a sex scene
Running Time: 108 minutes
Language: English
Rated: R13 - Violence, profanity, nudity & a sex scene
I like a smart, slow burn spy thriller and there are few writers as adept at them as John le Carre.
I thoroughly enjoyed "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" and out and out loved (and still do) "The Constant Gardner".
If you think that either of those are boring then you will probably feel the same way about "Our Kind of Traitor".
If, like me you are onboard with them then this one is worth a look.
The story here is that Ewan McGregor's everyman university Professor Perry and his wife Gail (Naomie Harris) are on holiday in Marrakech trying to repair a marriage damaged by infidelity (his) when they meet a loud, friendly Russian named Dima (Stellan Skarsgard)
He plays host to Perry, coercing him into attending a high end part and then playing tennis with him the next morning.
Dima later confides in Perry that he is a financial advisor within the Russian Mafia and hands him a memory stick pleading with him to take it back to London with him and hand it in to the authorities.
This he does and before you can say International Intrigue Perry and Gail are off to Paris to re-connect with Dima to help MI-6 broker a deal for more information.
A local British MP (Northam) is involved in a deal to bring Russian money over via a newly set up - and very dodgy- bank.
 |
| McGregor, Lewis, Skarsgard and Harris - 3 out of 4 ain't bad? |
Tension is derived from situations such as the hustling of Dima's family out of a Hotel where a meeting of all the bad types is taking place.
There are a couple of fist fights and a little bit of a shoot out but generally speaking this is subdued stuff.
Aiding immeasurably in adding tension is the fine score by Marcelo Zarvos.
Piano, strings and percussion combine well to make even simple scenes of cars moving through city streets seem steeped with danger.
Likewise the cinematography by frequent Danny Boyle collaborator Anthony Dod Mantle is slick in all the places it needs to be and restrained at other times.
It's a great looking movie.
The opening sequence in the snow is a stunner for example.
Now the not so good news.
Damian Lewis plays MI-6 man Hector.
He is trying so, so hard to be terribly, terribly British and it doesn't work.
I was constantly reminded of Lee Evans' character in "There's Something About Mary" when he is pretending to be British.
Note that Evans is actually British but played an American trying to sound British.
While Evans is supremely good at mimicry and pulls off the neat trick of playing an American almost pulling of the British accent that he naturally speaks Lewis doesn't fare so well.
I found his performance distracting in the extreme.
Why the filmmakers didn't cast Jeremy Northam in this role and give Northam's role to Lewis is beyond me but I would imagine the answer is in the relative star power of each.
Northam may be on the downslope of his career slope and Lewis still on the up but the former has proved time and time again over the years that he can play understated menace with the best.
Hector is supposed to be the character whose intentions are not completely clear.
Will he betray Dima for his own ends?
Is he prepared to lose Perry and Gail in the interests of National security?
His accent and overplayed expressions distracted me to the point that I stopped asking these questions.
 |
| There is a genuine International feel with locations in Paris, Bern, London. Moscow and the French Alps |
Not in the broad strokes but certainly in the scene to scene detail.
Every major turn can be seen a mile away.
When one man suddenly tells another not to join in him a particular scene we know what is coming.
When it is revealed that one of Dima's daughters is in love with a Russain thug in pursuit of the family a major set piece is revealed well in advance of it actually occurring.
I am stopping short of accusing this one of being cliched but it is perilously close to a fair charge.
There are attempts to add some depth and intrigue with the revelation that Perry cheated on Gail with a student and she has not forgiven him yet and also the rather thin detailing of Hector having been setup by Northam's crooked politician Aubrey last time they tangled.
All in all I liked this film but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't expecting more from it.
Le Carre is a class act and there is enough talent here to think that this could have been a home run.
The screenplay from Hossein Amini is not his best work.
This is the man who gave us "Drive" and "Snow White and the Huntsman" - two movies that I genuinely love.
I have not seen any of director Susanna White's previous work either but she is not amazing at action scenes and given that this film doesn't have many those that are there needed to impress.
The fist fighting scenes are a blur of confusion when they could have easily been shot with more restraint and been more effective.
For fans of this sort of spy flick there is still plenty to enjoy though and I am certainly recommending it.
But oh- what it could have been!
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