Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Our Kind of Traitor Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 19, 2016

It’s interesting to contrast the work of Ian Fleming with that of John le Carré, not just because both worked as novelists in the spy genre, but because both worked as spies (more or less, anyway). While Fleming’s experiences in and around what became known as MI6 were relegated largely to the World War II era (and its immediate aftermath), le Carré’s experiences with the organization were more in the Cold War era, something that may provide at least some explanation for the differences in how the two authors approached their subject matters. Fleming tended to romanticize his espionage tale, with a dashing hero whose exploits left villains vanquished and women weak kneed. Le Carré, on the other hand, had a decidedly more jaundiced view of this particular “career” choice, as evidenced by two of his most famous pieces, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (also available in this version). Could there in fact be any two more disparate agents than James Bond and George Smiley? Perhaps oddly, then, le Carré’s 2010 novel Our Kind of Traitor seems less gritty and workaday like than some previous le Carré thrillers, which is not to suggest that the spies or at least operatives in the tale aren’t jaded, world weary types. What’s a bit unusual about Our Kind of Traitor is how it takes an almost Hitchcockian air by thrusting “civilians” into a saga of international intrigue, in somewhat the same manner that Cary Grant’s character of Roger Thornhill suddenly found himself subsumed by all sorts of subterfuge in North by Northwest. That very plot gambit is patently artificial on its face, and as such Our Kind of Traitor struggles at times to achieve the same level of supposed authenticity that other le Carré efforts had in spades. Putting aside levels of believability, however, Our Kind of Traitor offers a genuinely involving story and some standout performances by Ewan McGregor as a hapless professor and (especially) Stellan Skarsgård as a Russian money launderer with some devastating information he wants to pass to British intelligence.

A pre-credits sequence details some sort of shenanigans unfolding in an opulent environment that reeks of the Romanovs or some other long defunct Eastern European dynasty. A long list of names and numbers is seen and some kind of agreement has been forged between the participants, leading to the gift of an ornate antique pistol with a distinctive ivory grip to one of the men in attendance. That guy leaves with his wife and gorgeous daughter and begins driving through a sylvan countryside dotted with dancing birch trees. A logging truck has dislodged its load on a country road and a policeman is halting traffic. Suffice it to say it’s an “arranged” scene and the unfortunate car bound family doesn’t make it out of the situation alive. Obviously there are menacing events afoot.

The film then segues to Morocco, where Perry McKendrick (Ewan McGregor) and his wife Gail Perkins (Naomie Harris) seem to be about to embark on a little lovemaking, except that Gail demurs for reasons which aren’t immediately apparent but which obviously imply some sort of marital discord. The two go to dinner where Perry laments the insane prices on the wine list (16,000 Euros for one especially vintage bottle!). Across the room a boisterous group of Russians is having some kind of party, and the leader of the group makes pointed eye contact with Perry. When Gail leaves to take a call, the Russian comes over and introduces himself as Dima (Stellan Skarsgård), insisting that Perry come over and join the group. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the glass of wine Dima offers Perry comes from that most expensive bottle Perry had just been complaining about. Our Kind of Traitor hinges on this “chance” meeting, not to mention Dima’s seeming instant appropriation of Perry into what turns out to be a long germinating plan, and as such this plot contrivance simply has to be accepted in order for the film’s narrative thrust to really resonate.

The problem with this conceit is that, unlike in Hitchcock films where there’s a certain glossy air of willingly suspended disbelief, Our Kind of Traitor wants to pretend it has the typically pedestrian air of much of le Carré’s work while it exploits the ludicrous glamor of a professor suddenly finding his inner James Bond and becoming an action hero. It’s a disconcerting plot element and one that creates a kind of cognitive dissonance from which the film never fully escapes. While the twisting narrative has enough subterfuge to easily hold interest, by the time Perry is taking out hitmen in the forest the film has lost any even precarious tether to supposed reality. Still, performances are largely superb. It’s especially fun to see Damian Lewis doing the interrogating rather than being interrogated (as he was in Homeland: The Complete First Season), here as a government operative who wants to use Perry and Gail in order to get to Dima and his information.

Our Kind of Traitor Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Our Kind of Traitor is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. The IMDb lists this as having been shot with the Arri Alexa XT and finished at a 4K DI. While detail levels are generally extremely strong throughout this presentation, the decision on the part of director Susannah Grant and director of photography Anthony Dod Mantle to offer some patently "arty" shots, as well as a tendency to have some long sequences play out in near darkness, can sometimes work to the detriment of fine detail, as well as giving (what I assume to be an intentional) gauzy and soft appearance. There's also some kind of odd (to my eyes, anyway) color grading going on, where flesh tones almost assume an alien green-yellow tone some of the time. Otherwise, though, this is a stellar looking transfer, one with a really crisp sense of fine detail when things are brightly lit and not excessively graded. Contrast is generally strong and while black levels can look a little milky at times, nothing is overly problematic.

Our Kind of Traitor Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Our Kind of Traitor is a fairly talky affair, and as such anyone expecting its DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix to be a riot of action adventure excess will probably be at least a little disappointed. That said, there's routine immersion here, and even bursts of forceful LFE. With elements like machine gun fire and even an explosion, there are moments at least where the surrounds bristle with activity and sonic adrenaline gets pumped. There is nice placement of ambient environmental effects both in urban soundscapes as well as the more "rural" environment of Marrakech. Fidelity is excellent and there are no problems of any kind to report.

Our Kind of Traitor Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Making of Our Kind of Traitor (1080p; 10:58) has some decent interviews and behind the scenes footage, but is a pretty standard EPK.


• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 5:27)


• The Cast (1080p; 3:27) is a brief compendium of snippets from the film, behind the scenes footage and interviews.


• The Story (1080p; 3:05) offers a general (spoiler free) overview of the plot, with some comments on le Carre.

Our Kind of Traitor Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's no denying that the central plot conceit of Our Kind of Traitor is just kind of flat out ridiculous. Some may find it a deal killer in being able to swallow everything that flows from it, but if it's accepted as a given, the film has a lot of tense moments and offers an eclectic cast the opportunity to strut their stuff. Technical merits are strong and Our Kind of Traitor comes Recommended.