Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Our Kind of Traitor Review - 2 Stars


Ewan McGregor plays a poetry professor drawn into international intrigue in "Our Kind of Traitor." On holiday to Morocco, in an effort to put some spark back into his marriage to the regally beautiful Naomie Harris, McGregor meets loudmouthed Russian mobster Stellan Skarsgard, who takes him aside and confides he wants to defect; so if McGregor will just take this thumb drive to the authorities back in London, everything will be fine. I guess McGregor didn't hear all those announcements at the airport about not taking a package from strangers. Soon McGregor and his once-bored wife chase from Switzerland to Paris and international locations, thanks in part to rogue British intelligence officer Damian Lewis, who has a few scores of his own to settle. "Our Kind of Traitor" comes from a John LeCarre novel, and feels like a good enough yarn; but somehow this movie version lacks punch. The film looks dark and fuzzy, and feels that way. In fact, it feels like a copy of other, better spy tales that put an average guy in the middle of the action. Skarsgard makes a great Russian mobster. McGregor's fine as the guy stuck in the middle. I can't figure out why Naomie Harris marries the guy in the movie: She's way too hot for a meek professor. Our Kind of Traitor rates a mild two stars. Does it deliver what it promises? So-so spy yarn. Is it entertaining? Slow and predictable. Is it worth the price of admission? Not very special.