DIVIDED LOYALTIES

The political thriller Traitor, about a Muslim-American operative ensnared in an international terrorist network, is a provocation on post-9/11 paranoia and a gripping treatise on the minds of extremists who consider no Westerner innocent when it comes to jihad. Scripted by director Jeffrey Nachmanoff from a story idea by Steve Martin, Traitor is an accomplished, complex thriller spanning several continents to tell the story of Yemeni national Samir Horn (Don Cheadle), raised in America after his father’s assassination, who returns home to peddle bombs to extremists before landing in prison with determined terrorist Omar (Said Taghmaoui). The two men bond and Samir infiltrates the cell while maintaining a covert relationship with an American CIA agent (Jeff Daniels).

“If a man hasn’t discovered something he is willing to die for, he isn’t fit to live,” says Omar. In this relationship, Traitor upends simplistic definitions of Muslim extremists, revealing an otherwise honorable man dedicated to a deadly mission and an affluent global society of terror. In one fascinating scene, Omar contrasts the greater and lesser jihads - the war against temptations of man versus the war against the West. The film also shadows their actions with another story involving an FBI agent (Guy Pearce) one step behind, and a Chicago love interest (Archie Panjabi) caught in the middle. A series of bombings abroad trail back to Samir, and one of Traitor’s principal strengths is refusing to disclose Samir’s true allegiances until late in the movie.

Costa Gavras made films like this decades ago, with political movie cries like Missing and Z, and Nachmanoff ratchets up suspense with superbly built and scored sequences, including the destruction of an American embassy in France. Explosions are layered with a rising conscience, culminating in a race against time with suicide bombers mounting a major U.S. strike and a nifty surprise twist. Cheadle, as always, is superb, and Australian Pearce, with an impeccable American accent, calls to mind his morally crusading L.A. Confidential cop. But it is French-Moroccan Taghmaoui who delivers the film’s most interesting and complex turn as a likable man dedicated to an unthinkable cause. (***1/2) C.S.

Babylon A.D. is a futuristic action picture, based on French author Maurice G. Dantec’s massive sci-fi tome Babylon Babies. In the country of New Serbia, a SWAT team busts into a boarded up apartment and takes gun-for-hire Toorop (Vin Diesel) to see Russian mobster Gorsky (Gerard Depardieu). Gorsky pays Toorop a large sum to escort the mysterious young Aurora (Melanie Thierry) and her protector, Sister Rebecca (Michelle Yeoh), to New York City for undisclosed reasons. Throughout their journey from Kazakhstan to Vladivostok, Russia and across the Bering Sea, the trio encounters henchmen trying to stop their progress. Even when they have finally reached their destination and attempt to deliver Aurora to the Neolite Priestess (Charlotte Rampling), the plan goes awry.

The movie bears little resemblance to the book except in its most basic plotline. Toorop has gone from teenager to hardened soldier of fortune, while the book’s Sister Rebecca transforms from old French crone to younger Asian martial arts expert. Writer-director Mathieu Kassovitz and two co-writers have also excised most of the book’s intelligent themes, contemplating the ethics of genetic engineering and post-Soviet political strategies. All that remains is a fairly routine road movie onto which Kassovitz stages several very impressive stunt sequences. However, it feels like this French director’s artistic bent is battling Hollywood’s big budget action movie requirements. This simplification doesn’t particular hurt the material, but it doesn’t distinguish it either.

Diesel can be affective when challenged, but this genre never asks much of him, so he scowls and stomps through the movie like a bull in a china shop. Coming from Hong Kong’s rich tradition of martial arts movies, Yeoh can make even the most outlandish action seem somewhat plausible, but she too is far better than the material. All that can be said about Depardieu is that he’s the victim of an unfortunate make-up job, which makes his already bulbous nose seem even more gargantuan. (It may just be as big as one of Diesel’s biceps.) Fans of the genre and Diesel may get a kick out of this, but like ancient Babylon, this movie is a ruin. (**) J.L.

2008 BOX OFFICE GROSSES

So far this year, the movie box office is running a bit ahead of last year, although there are slightly fewer movies to hit the golden $100 million mark in 2008. Most of the summer movies have petered out, with only The Dark Knight and Mamma Mia still ringing up scores of cash. Most of the summer holdovers won’t add much to their coffers, while newcomers for the next few weeks aren’t expected to have much impact financially.

Year-to-Date Box Ofice Rank (as of the weekend ending 8/31):

1. The Dark Knight (Warners) $490,874,000 (still playing)

2. Iron Man (Paramount) $317,230,110

3. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Paramount) $315,168,233

4. Hancock (Sony) $225,713,937

5. Wall-E (Disney/Pixar) $215,286,444

6. Kung Fu Panda (Paramount/Dreamworks) $212,105,817

7. Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! (20th Century Fox) $154,515,062

8. Sex and the City (Warners/New Line) $152,234,759

9. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (Disney) $141,440,697

10. The Incredible Hulk (Universal) $134,284,065

11. Wanted (Universal) $133,513,920

12. Mamma Mia! (Universal) $130,492,000

13. Get Smart (Warners) $128,089,046

14. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Universal) $100,915,000

15. You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (Sony) $99,436,165

16. Step Brothers (Sony) $98,994,000

17. Journey to the Center of the Earth (Warners/New Line) $95,333,000

18. 10,000 B.C. (Warners) $94,784,201

19. 21 (Sony) $81,159,365

20. What Happens in Vegas (20th Century Fox) $80,221,916

21. Jumper (20th Century Fox) $80,172,128

22. Cloverfield (Paramount) $80,048,433

23. Pineapple Express (Sony) $78,266,306

24. Tropic Thunder (20th Century Fox) $77,808,654

25. 27 Dresses (Universal) $76,500,000