Thriller can’t quite Carré it off
OUR KIND OF TRAITOR (Cert 15; 108mins)
OUR Kind Of Traitor has the misfortune to be released when The Night Manager still burns brightly in the collective memory. The latest John le Carré adaptation is a decent, perfectly respectable tale of global financial shenanigans, cloak-and-dagger intrigue, moral dilemmas and corrupt politicians but you still find yourself damning it with faint praise.
The script by Hossein Amini deftly compresses the novel into under two hours, the sleek cinematography by Anthony Dod Mantle brings out the best in the luxurious locations, the strong cast make it an appealing prospect and yet it never quite sets the pulse racing.
It is sad to report that the weak link is probably Ewan McGregor as Perry Makepeace, a mild-mannered, well-intentioned poetry professor on holiday in Marrakech with his highpowered lawyer wife Gail (Naomie Harris).
The couple are attempting to reignite their romance after his infidelity. He is sheepish and awkward, projecting the sense of a man who has lost the right to assert himself ever again. McGregor is a blank, low-key presence which might be in keeping with the character but doesn’t make for the most thrilling viewing.
The plot kicks in once the couple accept an invitation for drinks from gregarious Russian mobster Dima, played to the hilt by Stellan Skarsgård. Dima is larger than life; a boisterous bear of a man who could sweep you up in his warm embrace or rip out your throat without a thought. Swilling down booze and parading around starkers, a spectacularly tattooed Skarsgård makes Dima good company and is the film’s stand-out performance.
Dima asks a favour of his new best friends and Perry agrees to take a USB stick back to Britain and hand it over to the authorities. Dima wants out and has enough information on enough crooked money laundering deals to negotiate the safety of himself and his family.
Perry doesn’t realise that no good deed goes unpunished and now British intelligence in the shape of a righteous Hector (Damian Lewis) wants him to continue as Dima’s contact. Gail is the sensible one, arguing that they have no obligation to a man who is practically a stranger. But in the interests of a better story she is overruled and soon Perry and Gail seem able to drop everything else to go scurrying across Paris and the French Alps dodging bullets, icy assassins and slippery politicians along the way. There are times when it feels as if we have stumbled into James Bond territory.
Our Kind Of Traitor has enough death and cynicism to keep you watching but too often you question what is in front of your eyes. Would smart, steely lawyer Gail really have stayed with dull, supposedly honourable Perry? Why would a trained assassin engage in a bout of macho, shirtless fisticuffs when he has a handy gun nearby? Is the conclusion just a little too convenient to ring true?
All those reservations tend to chip away at an honourable, enjoyable but decidedly second division le Carré adaptation.