Traitor

My father-in-law just mentioned this movie last night-- saying he enjoyed it and its subtle treatment of the subject.

Then, the C-J has a piece today by the WP's Ellen McCarthy...

Have any of you seen the movie? Thoughts?

The first interesting tidbit: this was Steve Martin's idea!

The story line for the film, as he conceived it, would wade through the culture of Islamic extremists, the psychology of suicide terrorists and the bureaucratic chasms dividing federal agencies.

Martin pitched the concept, Disney bought it and an up-and-coming writer-director named Jeffrey Nachmanoff was brought in to craft the screenplay and make the movie. When Don Cheadle signed on to star in the film, called "Traitor," it seemed like a potential home run.

"The idea was to make this into a big commercial movie," Nachmanoff says. "But -- even though they liked the script at the studio -- they just felt it was too sensitive a subject to make as a mainstream release."

So the project sat and sat. It remained untouched for almost four years, until Disney released its rights and Nachmanoff persuaded his producers, including Martin, to make the film as an independent release.

Once "Traitor" found a home (plus a roughly $20 million to $30 million budget) at Overture Films, it took little more than a year to produce the film and get it onto the big screen....

Classic, '70s-era thrillers such as "All the President's Men" and "French Connection" provided the model for "Traitor," which leaves a question mark by its heroes and villains throughout the film....