Our Kind of Traitor (2016) User Reviews

Unwilling willing

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 20 February 2017]

Sometimes you get into a situation without really doing anything. And then you have to ask yourself where to go from there. Something like this happens to Ewan McGregors character. Someone with a past, but also someone with morals. And someone who seems to be struggling with his life, so he may be welcoming whatever gets thrown at him.

This is based on a novel which I haven't read, so I can't compare those two. I can tell you that the movie is more than suspenseful enough and it seems very much rooted in reality (of course heightened at certain points of the story). There are many obstacles and you may see a lot of things coming before they happen, but the movie is played very well and is more than decent enough to enjoy

John LeCarre - hard to go wrong

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 6 October 2018]

Good thriller from the master, John Le Carre, with some very interesting visuals by the director, Susanna White.

The story concerns a young couple (Ewan McGregor and Naomie Harris) who meet a Russian, Dima (Stellan Skarsgard). It turns out that Dima wants something delivered to British intelligence, which the naive McGregor does. Dima is involved with the Russian mafia and he has information that will bring down corrupt politicians in London. When the couple delivers the flash drive to Hector (Damien Lewis) in British Intelligence, they find themselves embroiled in a dangerous situation.

Some real revelations here for me anyway - first of all, I've never heard Damien Lewis speak with his native British accent; second, I've never before considered Stellan Skarsgard as having any sex appeal. His portrayal of the loud, friendly, charismatic Dima is fantastic. With people like Lewis and Skarsgard in the cast, you know the acting will be top level, and it is. McGregor and Harris hold their own, as good people who can't walk away from Dima and his family.

Very good.

Citizens on Patrol

[dvc5159 · 6/10 · 15 July 2016]

On any other day, a British espionage thriller would make for a good change of pace from the summer blockbuster season. Based off a John le Carré novel, and it makes it even more intriguing, seeing that the master of spy fiction that brought us "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and "The Spy that Came In from the Cold" is still up and sprightly, churning out novel after novel like it was nothing. I guess the secret to longevity is indeed to keep on working on your passion.

Now comes another film adaptation of his work – this time with actors of caliber (Ewan McGregor and Stellan Skarsgard, among others) and double the predictability. I have not read Le Carré's original source material, but my guess is it will be far more intriguing than what was presented here.

The film, telling the tale of how two ordinary British citizens (McGregor and Naomie Harris) naively help out a turncoat Russian mob enforcer (Skarsgard) and getting in the crosshairs of a ruthless MI6 agent (Damien Lewis) in the process, ticks the right boxes, and nothing more. It becomes an engrossing watch throughout, where characters scheme and plot while other innocents are naively caught in the crossfire.

Everything is fine and dandy – technically well-made and paced, the performances are spot-on and the story is a good tried-and-tested formula, though post-Brexit it seems unfortunately dated already, and the dialogue relies too much on the four-letter word, a jarring contrast a from Le Carré's usual classiness. The key word here is 'perfunctory'. It functions, and nothing more. Might be good with a cup of hot afternoon tea.

Disappointing but still watchable

[dellfamily · 6/10 · 27 May 2016]

As a Le Carre fan, it is fair to say that the film made a reasonable attempt of faithfully representing the book, although there were a few changes to the story. The problem with the film is that the book wasn't that brilliant to start off with and with the exception of Stellan Skarsgård (who played Dima)the other actors did not seem to have much belief in the characters they played. Saying that, it is possible for a film to be an improvement on the book and maybe misplaced deference to the author got in the way of the director and actors attempting to make the story more credible and interesting.

Perry was too 'nice' so when he played a 'knight in shining armour' on a couple of occasions, it was slightly confusing. Damian Lewis's performance (who played Hector of MI6) verged on the embarrassing as he portrayed him as a bumbling upper class twit which I am sure is not the character trait of MI6 operatives.

Overall, the film was watchable, but disappointing, especially after viewing the 'Night Manager' recently on television.

Gripping

[Laakbaar · 7/10 · 29 January 2017]

This is a proper screen adaptation of a John le Carre novel. If you're looking for a film to watch or rent, this is a good one. It tells the story of an ordinary British couple who, while on holiday, get caught up in a drama involving a member of the Russian mafia. This follows them after the holiday, and it turns into a terrifying adventure.

I thought the movie was gripping. There were many scenes that had me at the edge of my seat. The scenes were set in various locations around Europe and the rest of the world. I disagree with those who say the plot developments were not credible.

I think this movie is a little under-rated with it's current IMDb score. It's worth about 7.5.

"Our Kind of Traitor" is a satisfying, but unremarkable thriller.

[dave-mcclain · 6/10 · 10 July 2016]

John le Carré does not exist. "John the Square" (as understood in French) is the pen name of British author David Cornwell. For those who don't know who he is, Cornwell is a former member of Great Britain's Security Service and, later, his country's Secret Intelligence Service (perhaps better known as MI5 and MI6, respectively). He left the spy game in 1964 to pursue his burgeoning career as a writer of espionage novels. Now, if none of this sounds familiar, maybe these titles will: "The Tailor of Panama", "The Constant Gardener", "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy", "A Most Wanted Man". These are his novels which made it to the big screen just since the beginning of this century and have attracted the participation of actors Philip Seymour Hoffman, Gary Oldman, Pierce Brosnan, Geoffrey Rush, Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz (who won an Oscar for her efforts). Writing as le Carré, one of Cornwell's more recent novels to become a feature film is "Our Kind of Traitor" (R, 1:48), a story which continues the author's tradition of setting his roller-coaster-like plots against a backdrop of big ideas, but this one is set in a greater variety of international locations than usual and has narrative that's been described as somewhat Hitchcockian.

Peregrine "Perry" Makepiece (Ewan McGregor) is a college professor whose marriage to successful attorney (barrister, to be specific), Gail Perkins (Naomie Harris) is going through a rough patch. He had recently slept with one of his students and he feels that his professional accomplishments are inferior to those of his wife. The couple takes a short vacation to Marrakesh, Morocco in an effort to put a spark back into their marriage. Instead, Perry ends up hanging out with a larger-than-life Russian man named Dima (Stellan Skarsgård) whom he meets in a local bar. In the space of just a couple days, Perry accepts Dima's generous but forceful invitations to drink together, to play tennis and to attend a couple parties. Gail joins Perry at the second party, but is unhappy about how it cuts into their alone time, and when Perry disappears for a while, Gail wonders what he's up to. Fortunately (and unfortunately) Perry is just talking privately with Dima, who reveals himself to be more than just a friendly Russian businessman.

Dima tells Perry that he launders money for the Russian mob and is concerned that he is about to be asked to "resign" (which would mean that Dima's family would end up "resigning" with him). Before any of that can happen, Dima wants to defect to the UK. He asks Perry to deliver to MI6 a memory stick with the names of British officials being bribed by the Russians to grease the skids for a major banking deal. Dima hopes this information will be enough for MI6 to grant asylum to Dima and his family in exchange for further intel. Dima says that Perry is the only one he can trust, and Perry is just kind and honorable enough to want to help save Dima and his family. Perry is also pretty naïve, thinking that he can "just" give the files to MI6 and be done. Perry soon finds out differently, as does Gail who also gets roped in.

An MI6 agent known as Hector (Damian Lewis) is keen to follow up on this lead, but it won't be easy. Hector's boss doesn't think there's enough to go on and thinks that Hector is motivated by revenge against a former supervisor (Jeremy Northam) who may be involved in the bribery scandal. So, Hector lies to his crew (and everyone else) about having permission to proceed and goes forward with his unauthorized operation – which involves civilians, no less. Hector establishes contact with Dima, but Dima refuses to deal with anyone but Perry. Thus, Perry and Gail head to Paris where they "accidentally" run into Dima, who is on his way to Switzerland to sign over to his new bosses the accounts that he manages. Then, as things get more dangerous, Perry and Gail get involved more and more deeply.

"Our Kind of Traitor" is a satisfying, but unremarkable thriller. Some of the plot points seem highly implausible and others feel underwritten. The story is well-constructed, but the acting (except for Skarsgård's) is listless and the entire film suffers from a lack of tension. Cornwell / le Carré novels often suffer somewhat in the process of adapting them to the big screen, but this one is still worth a look. "B"

Well worth watching

[blrnani · 7/10 · 4 September 2017]

SPOILERS ALERT - inevitably, as this film is largely about redemption, so it is necessary to give away certain details in order to explain why. Redemption for Ewan McGregor's university professor, who has thrown his marriage into crisis through an 'indiscretion' with a student, and he is also struggling to cope with his male ego in a relationship where his wife is much more professionally successful, in her work as a barrister. Redemption for the mafia money man, who is seeking to protect his family from treachery by delivering the goods on a huge corruption scheme involving the Russian mafia and British politicians. This extrovert figure (can't imagine Ralph Fiennes carrying this one off) also recognises the fundamental decency of McGregor's character and saves his life by following a hunch (McGregor had also twice saved his). And redemption for the MI6 officer who fell afoul of his superiors because he was unable to come up with evidence to convict influential figures. How all these stories play themselves out is well worth watching.

Surprisingly entertaining

[MOscarbradley · 7/10 · 12 June 2018]

Not the best big-screen adaptation of a John LeCarre novel but even a second-rate LeCarre offers its pleasures. The plot of "Our Kind of Traitor" may be a tad far-fetched but then the plots of most good spy yarns often are. The Cold War having ended it's the Russian Mafia who take centre-stage here and as the Russian oligarch who wants to defect Stellan Skarsgard is one of the best things in the picture. Indeed, it's well cast throughout, (Damian Lewis is particularly good as a cynical MI6 operative), and typically there is some nice location work nicely shot by DoP Anthony Dod Mantle. If the director Sussana White doesn't do anything particularly innovative with the material at least she doesn't muck things up. Minor, then, but also surprisingly entertaining, too.

okay foreign intrigue

[ksf-2 · 6/10 · 5 November 2021]

An accountant for the russian mob gets Perry and Gail (McGregor and Harris) involved in his life, completely changing their vacation plans. When Dima the gangster gives the couple something to bring back home, it's much more complicated than they had thought. And now Perry and Gail are deeper and deeper in it. See what happens when you try to help someone? Although they really should have known better.... no good deed goes un-punished. And we are taught from day one, NEVER accept gifts or packages from strangers when abroad. If this were made in the old days (before 9/11) one could almost buy into it, but i don't think anyone would really have taken the first package. It's ok. Big on suspense, but quite predictable. I had higher hopes for this one. Kind of fizzled out. Book by John LeCarre. Directed by Susanna White.

Not our kind of Le Carré adaptation

[bob-the-movie-man · 4/10 · 15 May 2016]

The recent success of the superbly staged BBC production of John Le Carré's "The Night Manager" with Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie must have been music to the ears of the producers of "Our Kind of Traitor". Was it the case that the film was held back by the studio for that very reason – to ride the coat tails of that success? When you consider that principal photography of this pic was finished back in June 2014 (TWO THOUSAND AND FOURTEEN!) this becomes a definite suspicion. Because unfortunately, it's really not very good.

Ewan McGregor and Naomie ("Moneypenny") Harris play struggling couple Perry and Gail, going through a bit of a sticky patch, emotionally and sexually. (They must be, since they can't even seem to get it together on holiday in Marrakesh where – frankly – romance and libido come out of the taps with the running water).

One evening, after Gail strops off to "do some work", university lecturer Perry falls in with larger than life Dima (Stellan Skarsgård), a character who with his entourage reminds you immediately why having loud rich Russians in foreign holiday destinations is one of the curses of this new century. After many years of serving as the money-man for a Russian Mafia boss, Dima is now working for his unpredictable and merciless son, 'The Prince' (Grigoriy Dobrygin) who (for no readily apparent reason within the plot) seems to bump off his financier and his immediate family after big deals complete.

One such big deal for Dima is approaching in Berne,with potentially compromising consequences for high level British politicians and bankers. Dima begs for Perry's help to use this information to save his family by turning informant to MI6. Perry passes on the request to MI6 operative Hector (Damien Lewis) who struggles to persuade his boss Matlock ("Sherlock"'s Mark Gatiss) to buy into the scheme. This leaves Hector, Perry and Dima in a "Mind The Gap" position, as they desperately try to escape the vengeance of the Prince and his henchmen without a safe harbour.

It's difficult to pin down exactly where the issues are with this film. It is all just rather dull and predictable. Everything you expect to happen, does, and exactly when you expect it to. I haven't read the book (to be honest, I have never managed to get to the end of a Le Carré novel! #shortattentionspan) so I'm unaware of whether the issue lies with the source material or the screenplay by Hossein Amini ("Drive"; "The Two Faces of January").

Naomi Harris is personable enough as the lawyer/wife, but is given absolutely nothing else to do other than review a contract and babysit: given the director is a woman, this is a surprisingly retrograde storyline for women in film. McGregor doesn't really convince in the Hitchcock 'fish-out-of-water-James-Stewart' role. The Russian 'baddies' emphasise their 'baddiness' by beating up woman, which feels unnecessary and gratuitous. This allows Perry to get another couple of 'knight in shining armour' badges on his Boy Scout sleeve (again, neither realistic or believable). Damien Lewis is all pipe-and-slippers in the MI6 role, probably not doing his credentials for Bond much good.

The one role that really does work is Skarsgård as the jovial Russian, who dives into the role with great energy, delivering a full-on but convincing accent. He is eminently watchable throughout. It's also good to see young Alicia von Rittberg – so memorable in the tense 'dinner' scene in "Fury" – in a meatier acting role, even though her character's actions are so annoyingly dumb.

The director is Susanna White, whose only other feature to date was "Nanny McPhee Returns". That's probably all you need to know.

A film I was really looking forward to from the trailer, but a big disappointment I'm afraid.

(That's my view, but how was it for you? Please visit http://bob-the-movie-man.com for the graphical version of this review and to provide your thoughts in the comments section.)

solid thriller

[jmccarty-194-747783 · 8/10 · 2 July 2016]

I enjoy John Le Carre, but none of the adaptations of his books have really blown me away. I am happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. I came into this movie without many expectations, as I have not read the book and I hadn't heard anything about the movie.

Ewan McGregor and Stellan Skarsgård star as a British professor and a Russian mobster respectively, and both give great performances, especially Skarsgård, who plays a man who you know is a bad person, but you can't help but like. Naomie Harris and Damian Lewis also feature, and while both are good in their roles, I felt like Harris, who plays McGregor's wife, wasn't given much to do.

I really enjoyed the cinematography, and you could tell that Anthony Dod Mantle worked hard to make sure every shot was interesting even when what was going on in the shot was pretty basic.

The story is nothing you haven't seen before, but I found myself really captured by the great acting and interesting dialogue.

B+

Damn Decent

[martymoves · 7/10 · 27 January 2023]

A smooth thrill ride is how I would describe Our Kind of Traitor. I didn't realise until after watching it was based on a John LeCarre novel (i missed half the opening credits, my bad) but nobody does cool thriller like Carre.

I'm familiar with some of his other material and have seen a couple things turned into film also. This movie delivers man.

Its intense, deep character development, and sometimes you are changing what you want/think the outcome to be.

There are some majestic performances here by Stellan S. And Damian Lewis. Ewan Mac is gold as always, never seen a bad performance from him.

I really enjoyed this film. Held my attention all the way through. If you like films about espionage or the sort. This is something you might enjoy.

All in all just a really well made film. Worth the watch.

Overall Score 7/10 Entertainment Value 8/10 For a continuous plot that doesn't lose its way.

Very predictable and disappointing film

[okulo · 3/10 · 2 October 2016]

I was a little shocked to discover that this film was based on a book by John le Carré as I have enjoyed every other adaptation I have seen since Smiley's People back in 1982.

It would clearly be inappropriate to discuss each event as it would be a long string of spoilers but in my opinion, it would spoil nothing because everything was so expected. I felt like I was five minutes ahead of the scriptwriter the whole way through - however, I have marked this as containing spoilers because I think that even mentioning the scenario would be enough to inform a movie lover what happens next.

The most obvious moment came when Dima (Skarsgård), having at the outset made it clear that all he cared about was his family's safety, boards a helicopter in the Alps to fly off to hand over the goodies. Perry (McGregor) watches the helicopter take off and head to the horizon. Given the length of this shot of, only one thing can happen and I bet that anybody reading this who hasn't seen the film can guess.

As an occasional amateur filmmaker, I would be embarrassed by this scene alone but the I spent whole film waiting for it to catch up with what I was expecting.

I felt that the casting ranged from typecast to poor and the whole thing was so contained within a safety zone of mediocrity that it was utterly boring. When it wasn't predictable, it was clichéed.

I want to say something positive as the film wasn't all bad but I can't narrow anything down to a specific. The tattoos were convincing but even gang tattoos are a bit old hat these days.

Regime change

[GameAndWatch · 6/10 · 21 March 2020]

Perfectly watchable, nothing that wrong with it, but it just drifts to a predictable conclusion.

Not sure quite why we need such gravity in the Russian here being depicted as the mafia's biggest money launderer. Would have been more believable if the whole thing had been toned down to a local parish councillor taking back handers for some property development!

Pretty film. Pretty pointless. If you don't want to be vexed and would like to just mill away an hour or so, you get a jolly romp, some opulant parlours, and nice shots of Switzerland.

Kind of a disappointment

[margotlorena · 6/10 · 30 October 2016]

I just learned that this is based on a Le Carré book. I only had read one book by him and didn't like it. I watched a mini series based on another one of his books, The night manager, and didn't like it either, so I am guessing his writing is not my cup of tea.

I loved the cinematography, very nice shots of the Alps. Stellan Skarsgård is great as a Russian mobster. I think Ewan McGregor is a superb actor, but this role is pretty weak.

The plot is very weak, and I really didn't care much for the characters. But most important, I just couldn't believe Ewan's character would do something like this.

So the premise of the movie is flawed, at least for me. A bit of a disappointment overall. I don't think things were resolved well.

"Our Kind of Traitor" is Solid Entertainment

[kybyrce · 7/10 · 4 October 2016]

It's an espionage film, via the remarkable wordsmith, John Le Carre. "Our Kind of Traitor" opened in July, 2016.

I love the spy genre. And, this film, shot with stunning backdrops depicting Russia, Morocco, Switzerland, France and England, has a lot of positive aspects to it.

"Our Kind of Traitor" is solid entertainment, but not by any stretch in the top entertainment category. It is more than just an okay flick however. In particular, It has some fine acting, especially from Ewan McGregor (as Perry, a university poetry professor); and, Naomie Harris, (as his girlfriend, Gail, a barrister.)

Perry is the good, innocent guy in this movie, who inadvertently opens up a can of worms by getting too close to the wrong crowd. Harris is just along for the ride, with not a lot to do.

Yes, you're right if you were thinking that Harris is that same gal that played a "hottie" (Moneypenny), in that last James Bond movie - "Spectre." As for McGregor, a fine Scottish actor, he's been on a roll as a rising international movie star, since taking on the lead in Roman Polanski's award-winning flick, "The Ghost Writer."

The movie's story line for "Our Kind of Traitor," I must say, is seriously flawed. I didn't read the book, so I don't know if the adaptation is off or if I should blame it on the screenplay.

The crux of the problem is that the film is set up to have you concerned mostly about the fate of a Russian Mafia gangster, "Dima," played brilliantly by Stellan Skarsgard. He fears for his life, and for the well being of his young family.

Dina is desperate for a way to make a deal with MI6, British Intelligence, in order to gain sanctuary in England for himself and his brood. But, who really gives a good damn what happens to an operative for the Mob? Dina is likable fellow, but still he's a bloody gangster, who favors the "f" word. This is the rub in my opinion.

Dima's Mafia boss, an Oligarch, k/a "The Prince," (Grigoriy Dobrgin), is planning to knock him off, just as he had whacked Dima's predecessor, who had also acted as his banker. Trust me, the scene where that slaughter takes place, on a lonely, icy Russian road, will make you - cringe.

Ruthless doesn't begin to describe "The Prince" and his crime family. They are not only amoral killers but they treat their women like disposable chattel. They make our Mafia, with a tip of the hat to the late John Gotti, look like altar boys in comparison.

Background: Since the fall of Communism in Mother Russia, a new class of predators have emerged there - the Oligarchs. Some of them have been systematically looting the country - stealing billions of dollars of assets and natural resources. A few have been caught and prosecuted - most haven't.

A lot of the anti-Vladimir Putin propaganda that you witness in the Establishment Media in U.S. can be attributed to the fact that he, and his government, have taken a hard line against the lawbreakers in this clique of vultures. The vultures, however, know how to play the game and they play hard.

Getting back to the movie. Perry and Gail, Londoners, are on a holiday in Morocco. Perry ends up partying with Dima, where Dima asks him to act as a courier for him. He wants Perry to pass off a memory stick to MI6, when he returns home. Unbeknown to Perry, it contains loads of inside information exposing high level Brit banking/corporate officials, including politicos, in crooked deals and payoffs with the Russian Mob.

Perry makes it to London, meets with the MI6 honcho (Hector), played capably by Damian Lewis, and gives him the memory stick. This end of the tale gets complicated fast, since Hector's boss doesn't think Dima is such a good catch for the agency.

Also, there's a wirepuller in the House of Lords, who is close to this evolving scheme, and the power-shakers in MI6. He despises Hector. Think House of Cards/Pefidious Albion!

There are some interesting scene shifts from Morocco to London; then on to Paris; with a stopover in Bern, Switzerland; and later on to the the French Alps. As for tension/suspense, there's plenty, but not nearly enough to keep you hanging on the edge.

"Our Kind of Traitor" will entertain you, but it's not in the forever-memorable thriller category. I'm giving it seven out of ten stars.

Le Carre is on a roll

[davidgee · 7/10 · 19 May 2016]

John Le Carre is on a roll. Hot on the heels of the well-received TV adaptation of THE NIGHT MANAGER comes this cinema version of another of his novels, also filmed with a hefty budget, I imagine: location shoots in Morocco and Bern as well as Paris and London. The storyline bears some similarities to THE NIGHT MANAGER: outsiders accidentally drawn into the world of espionage and treachery. The movie seems to have sneaked in under the radar: I wonder why the producers didn't cash in more blatantly on MANAGER's success.

Ewan McGregor and Naomie Harris play a British poetry professor and his wife who befriend a Russian millionaire they meet on holiday. He asks the professor to approach MI5 with his offer to defect to Britain with some uncomfortable information about members of the Establishment who are helping a mafia bank set up a laundering branch in London; in return he wants his family to be offered protection in the West.

Stellan Skarsgard plays the rude crude oligarch in a volume and style borrowed from Brian Blessed. Damian Lewis affects an unconvincing Belgravia accent as the one decent spymaster fighting the recalcitrance and lack of principles of his Whitehall superiors, a part which perhaps too obviously recycles Olivia Colman's in THE NIGHT MANAGER. There's not enough meat on Naomie Harris's role, but Ewan McGregor makes a more persuasive Ordinary Joe than MANAGER's Tom Hiddleston, who seemed a bit bland and too posh – I hope he won't be the next 007.

Perhaps OUR KIND OF TRAITOR has come too close on the heels of THE NIGHT MANAGER, making the similarities over-conspicuous. TRAITOR has a little less drama but a lot more heart. Le Carre is very good at endings – remember THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD? – and this one is particularly finely judged. This is up there with the best of his movies.

Enjoyable John LeCarre spy thriller adapted for the big screen

[paul-allaer · 7/10 · 4 July 2016]

"Our Kind of Traitor" (2016 release from the UK; 105 min.) bring the story of Perry and Gail, a British couple. While they are vacationing in Marrakesh, Perry is invited by a Russian guy to join for drinks, Dima takes a liking to Perry and soon the two of them are playing tennis, and Perry and Gail are invited to Dima's daughter's 18th birthday, an extravagant affair. During that party, Dima makes the big reveal: he is an oligarch and money-launderer but is in trouble from a competing oligarch. Dima asks Perry to deliver a memory stick containing damning information on British politicians to MI 6, in return for safety for his family. Perry reluctantly accepts. At this point we're not even 15 minutes into the movie, but to tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the latest John LeCarre book adaption for the big screen, this time directed by Susanna White, best known for her work in TV (including BBC and HBO). Also noteworthy in the opening credits: "Presented by Amazon Prime Instant Video" (the movie was released simultaneously in US theaters and on Amazon). I have not read the book, so I cannot comment how closely the big screen adaption follows the book. This being a very plot-heavy crime thriller, I'm going to not make any further comments about the movie's lay-out, other than to say it is done very nicely, with actual character development, in particular as to Perry and Gale. The movie features top-notch on-location photography in London, Finland (standing in for Russia), Bern (extra bonus point for the clever use of the Einstein Museum), Paris, and Marrakesh. the lead performances from Ewan McGregor as Perry. Naomie Harris as Gail and Stellan Skarsgård as Dima all bring thoroughly enjoyable performances (I couldn't help but think of the parallels between McGregor's character here and Gary Grant's role in North by Northwest. At one point Perry comments "I don't want to be involved", to which the UK cop responds "you're already involved!".) Bottom line; this is a thoroughly enjoyable movie, and MILES better than the 2011 big screen adaptation of LeCarre's "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy".

"Our Kind of Traitor" opened on 3 screens for all of Greater Cincinnati this long holiday weekend, and the Monday afternoon screening where I saw this at was attended very nicely, somewhat to my (pleasant) surprise. If you are a fan of spy thrillers, and in particular of John LeCarre adaptations, you cannot go wrong with this, be it in the theater, on Amazon Instant Video, or eventually on DVD/Bly-ray.

Espionage Lite

[GManfred · 21 July 2016]

Fairly interesting Le Carre adaptation with a familiar theme; Good Guys vs Bad Guys with an Everyman stuck in the middle, with no way out. Not an awful lot going on, and with incessant, portentous (and pretentious) background music indicating danger ahead, which doesn't come. Or when it comes it's not that dangerous.

One of the disappointments for me was the lack of a staunch hero to commandeer the picture. Instead, we got Ewan McGregor, who wimped his way through the movie and seemed half-hearted and uninterested; 'leading from behind', I think, is the term in current usage.The one bright spot in the film was Stellan Skarsgard, who plays the traitor in question. He was the title character, crude and vulgar but a big-hearted slob you couldn't help rooting for. He did the best he could to raise the subject matter up from tedium, and almost succeeded.

It is July and I wonder if we're going to get a "summer blockbuster" this year that we can recommend to all our friends. So far, we have a collection of animated kid's pictures doing great at the box office, so if your friends are aged 7 or below they've had several to recommend to you.

between the Cold Wars

[dromasca · 6/10 · 31 January 2019]

I'm a big fan of John le Carré. He is one of my favorite writers in one of my favorite literary genres - spy thrillers. His books are very "cinematic" in the structure, and it is no surprise that they have all been adapted to big screens or television series. The characters in the books and the films inspired by John de Carre's novels are revealing themselves gradually, as the action advances, but never completely, thus the readers or the viewers always remain with the impression that some details are being kept in the shadows even after the last page of the novel or after the credits at the end of the movie. Like many other espionage writers, as well as like the secret services described in his novels, John le Carre had to look for new enemies after the break-up of the Iron Curtain and the fall of communism. In his novels after 1990, the role of the 'bad guys' began to be played by global terrorists or mafias in former communist countries. But the last decade has also meant the return of Russia on the global scene and the threat of a new Cold War. 'Our Kind of Traitor' published in 2011 is John le Carre's first novel in which the signs of the new Cold War appear. The 2016 movie directed by Susanna White is a pretty faithful adaptation of the novel.

Two categories of typical le Carre heroes appear in this film. Perry (Ewan McGregor ) is an idealist intellectual who is ready to sacrifice the his peaceful life to help a friend or serve a good cause when confronted with limit situations. Hector (Damian Lewis) is an MI6 agent who faces the eternal problem of corruption and duplicity of his bosses and has to resort to unconventional methods to bring the truth to light. The two will meet when Perry is chosen by a financier of the Russian mafia named Dima (the Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård ) to facilitate his passage to the English side with his whole family. It is not the most complex and interesting of the novels written by John le Carre, but the story has enough material for an exciting action thriller.

Susanna White has little experience with feature films, being especially known for directing episodes in TV series. Her lack of experience or inspiration is visible in this adaptation, correct but lacking in emotion. There were some exciting action threads that could have been exploited - such as the dilemmas of the British agent confronted with the corruption of politicians and the bosses' complicity, the relationship between Perry and his wife faced with the dilemma of personal sacrifice in order to help a dubious friend that he had just known, or the terror of the family of the Russian bankerwho had decided to change allegiances. None of these topics is approached more than at a superficial level, to the extent that they serve the action. The only interesting acting is by Stellan Skarsgård . 'Our Kind of Traitor' is an acceptable action movie, but the impression I was left with was that it could have been more than that.

A forgettable film

[AndrewAgassi · 4/10 · 17 May 2016]

Our Kind of Traitor is that type of film that isn't totally rubbish, but it's not exactly Casino Royale either. It's one of the most mediocre films I have ever seen. To begin with, the plot is uninteresting. Basically, it's about a university teacher Perry (Ewan McGregor) who tries to help a guy called Dima (Stellan Skarsgård), who is from the Russian mafia. Perry is assisted by his wife Gail (Naomi Harris)and a guy from the MI6 called Hector (Damien Lewis) , who also has some generic agent friends. The plot is filled with problems. Why would a poetry teacher help a Russian mafia? Well the movie doesn't really explain it. Perry just agrees to help Dima, just because Dima seems like a friendly bloke. The relationship problems between Gail and Perry are unnecessary for the film. It never shows how they work out their problems, they just sort of get along after a while. Also, there is no real villain. There are just some guys, who don't like Dima (for a special reason) and want him dead. And that's it! It's boring all the way through by not having any interesting dialogue or memorable scenes.

Visually it's nothing special. It's just really bland and gray. Some of the special effects are of questionable quality as well. The music is unnoticeable. Intense music was there when needed, but there isn't much else.

Now the only reason this film is not horrible, is because the acting is decent at times. Ewan McGregor and Naomi Harris try their best, but they can't really save much, because of the boring dialogue. Stellan Skarsgård was miscast . His stereotypical Russian accent is embarrassingly bad and he just doesn't feel like a guy, who would be in the Russian mafia. Furthermore, the family of Dima is a weird one. They speak English in Russian family. The only constantly speaking Russian member was the mother, but even she was unconvincing . However, Damian Lewis did a great job. I thought his character was interesting and I understood his motives. He was also the best written character, but that doesn't say much in this film.

Overall, you should probably avoid seeing Our kind of Traitor. It is average in pretty much all aspects.

Better than the book for me

[hillrosemary · 8/10 · 9 July 2016]

I usually love John Le Carre's books, but I didn't think much of Our Kind of Traitor at all. In fact it left me with almost no memory of the story except a vague outline, which was very handy when it came to watching the film. I enjoyed the screen version much more. The adaptation is good, the action was paced far better than the novel, and the acting was excellent. Stellan Skarsgaad was wonderful as Dima - he managed, I thought, to make the character sympathetic without ever losing his menace. Damian Lewis was also very good. I don't especially care for Ewan MacGregor, but I thought he did well in this. I had last seen Khalid Abdalla, who played Luke, in the role of an Islamic terrorist in 'Spooks', and I think Susanne White made an excellent choice of having him play an MI-6 officer; while I know nothing about who staffs what in Vauxhall Cross, I would imagine it's much more multi-ethnic than it used to be. Lastly, the little cameo by John Le Carre himself was a nice touch.

As to how close to the reality the story line is ... I suspect much more so than many people might like to think!

Very good entertainment

[claudinha-schulz · 7/10 · 17 June 2018]

Very good entertainment. Recommend it for a Friday evening. Good actors, good trama.

Pretty Bad

[patricenicolas · 4/10 · 23 August 2016]

Wow, saw this on the plane, I was surprised how bad this was. Anything that ends up on the plane is either a blockbuster or a dud. The plot is really weak and predictable.

How did this get made? Ewan McGregor is one of my favorite actors, but he just phones this one in!

He's been doing that a lot nowadays.

The other cast are pretty 2 dimensional.

I tuned out in certain parts because nothing was going on. It's so unlikely that they would do this, they provide no strong justification, and then... the daughter, OMG! I didn't buy it.

Stay away from this one.

Better than expected

[kz917-1 · 6/10 · 12 June 2017]

What lengths would you go to in order to save your family?

Would you deliver a memory stick to the MI6 if a stranger asked you to?

Our Kind of Traitor poses these and more questions in the adaptation of a John LeCarre novel. Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgard, and Damian Lewis are the three major leads.

The movie was enjoyable if a little unbelievable at times.