Film Review: Our Kind of Traitor

"Never Before Have We Had An Informant This High Up In Russian Organised Crime..."

Following on from the hit BBC miniseries The Night Manager starring Hugh Laurie and Tom Hiddleston in essentially what was a pretty strong audition tape for the now seemingly vacant role of Bond after this week it was reported Daniel Craig had turned down a rather lucrative amount of money to carry on as the famous spy. Our Kind of Traitor is an adaptation of the same-named best selling novel by John le Carré, the author whose novels have indeed caught the eye of both the small and the big screen rather recently, with 2011's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy featuring a near perfect performance from Gary Oldman, being arguably the best of the big-screen adaptations to date. Featuring Ewan McGregor and Stellan Skarsgård, Our Kind of Traitor is one of those strange cases of a film not entirely having much wrong with it, but it is no doubt seemingly a film which is too televisual and nuanced to have the spark many of the similar examples of the genre have had in the past, particularly when held up against The Night Manager, a much more interesting and complex thriller than that of the latest John le Carré adaptation. 

During their holiday in the far reaches of Marrakesh, married couple Gail (Naomie Harris) and Perry (Ewan McGregor) become embroiled in a Russian mobsters' plot to defect from his native country and find safe haven in the UK in return for handing all information regarding the illegal finances that split right through the heart of the organised crime syndicate. Although at first reluctant to help in fear of their own safety, Perry and Gail soon realise the lives of not only themselves but the lives of 

the traitor Dima (Stellan Skarsgård) and his family too. During the course of the movie, it is inherently hard to watch the acting talents of people such as Naomie Harris and Damian Lewis and wonder whether actually what you are indeed watching is a mix between Bond and Homeland, particularly in regards to the notion that much like The Night Manager, Our Kind of Traitor is a story that essentially belongs on the small screen, but by some rather miraculous achievement has instead managed to gather financial backing and the talents of McGregor and Skarsgård to be placed upon the big screen. Our Kind of Traitor is by no means a failure, it just doesn't seem to have the dramatic quality to render its' stay within the cinematic spectrum a necessity and whilst Skarsgård devours the scenery around him, less can be said about others around him. McGregor! Not bad, but not exactly remarkable. Watch with a cup of tea and a ginger biscuit. At home. 

Overall Score: 6/10