As the axiom goes, “Evil triumphs when good men do nothing.” Perry, for one, wants to make sure such “evil” never comes to pass.īut the most impressive element of “Our Kind of Traitor” is the camera work of Anthony Dod Mantle, Oscar winner for 2008’s “Slumdog Millionaire.” Each frame is bathed in golden hues and hints of blue with the use of shadows, mirrors and windows reflecting the ominous secrecy of the espionage world.
And if Perry’s nobility of mind weren’t clear enough, Dima spends most of the movie telling Perry that he’s “good” and “honorable.” It may be simplistic but it’s also heartening and perhaps even important in a world where murky chaos reigns. An otherwise reticent man, he springs into action to defend an abused woman on more than one occasion. It is apparent that Perry’s instinctual moral compass is what guides him. Perry himself is not just a hapless pawn in Dima’s plan but a man dissatisfied with his lot in life trying to do good while yearning for something more. Skarsgård is enchantingly rambunctious, and Damian Lewis ’ stoic MI6 agent, Hector, has more depth than expected. Perry and Gail are a couple with a marriage on the rocks and the strength of the story is that it tracks their relationship along with the success of their ad hoc mission, giving the chemistry of the actors a chance to shine. Screenwriter Hossein Amini, responsible for Nicolas Winding Refn’s critically acclaimed “Drive,” crafts a nuanced script out of le Carré’s straightforward novel. Perry befriends Dima while on vacation in Morocco with his lawyer wife, Gail ( Naomie Harris, who is no stranger to spy sagas, having starred in Bond movies “Spectre” and “Skyfall”), and they become invested in helping Dima protect his family from the Russian mob.
Susanna White (director of “Nanny McPhee Returns” and various television episodes) packages a perfectly serviceable thriller and though “Our Kind of Traitor” doesn’t quite rise above the sum of its parts, it offers quite a lot to engage the viewer along the way.Įwan McGregor (“Miles Ahead,” “Moulin Rouge!”) is Perry Makepeace, an everyman figure who is inadvertently drawn into the world of espionage when boisterous Russian mafioso Dima ( Stellan Skarsgård ) asks him to deliver classified information to the British Secret Services. “ Our Kind of Traitor ,” the latest adaptation of a novel by British espionage maestro John le Carré, dutifully crosses off several items from the checklist of great spy movies: suspense, stunning locales and nifty camera work, with some thematic moralizing thrown in for extra gravitas. Ewan McGregor Headlines the Latest John Le Carré Adaptation in Spy Thriller ‘Our Kind of Traitor’