Where to start? This is so ghastly, but perhaps the most damaging stereotype is the 'Muslim sleeper cell' construct, reinforcing the idea that your neighbours are one phonecall away from dropping their suburban lives, strapping on a bomb, and immolating themselves and a bunch of innocent American children and shoppers. It's a disgrace that such films are made, Cheadle should be ashamed of himself.

A long, dense movie about the infiltration of a group of international terrorists, all of whom have interpreted the Qoran in its most terrible aspect, like Christians who have taken literally "an eye for an eye." It's dense in more ways than one because it operates on two levels. One is the action we see on screen; the other is the battle of faiths and allegiances that move the action along. Don Cheadle is the chief infiltrator working under deep cover for an unnamed agency, perhaps the CIA. Nobody but one man, Jeff Daniels, who is accidentally killed, so Cheadle is now a totally unknown agent who belongs to the gang. In a weak performance, Cheadle begins the story as a committed Muslim who sells explosives to terrorists in Yemen. My brain must be atrophied because I missed Cheadle's recruitment by Daniels. As further evidence of atrophy I direct your attention to another aspect of the plot. The terrorists are going to blow up 51 buses simultaneously. So why do the FBI fly to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and begin searching ships leaving port for American cities? Note the bloated character of the central ventricles. That one there looks like Lake Baikal.Let me make it short. The editor must have been stoned because way too much was left out. The same discontinuity applies to the ideologies involved. Cheadle is a devout Muslim. He takes his faith seriously and owe his primary loyalty to God. But he begins life as a character who willingly sells explosives to blow people up. Half-way through he appears to have an epiphany and weeps at the thought of innocent people dying. The loyalty between Cheadle and his terrorist friend, Saïd Taghmaoui, is probably the most touching in the film. When Taghmaoui discovers that Cheadle has foiled the plot, his anguish seems real. Not that any of this applies to the gang. Make no mistake, they're the Nazis of the movie -- they do what villains always do in propaganda movies; they unhesitatingly kill one of their own when he turns out to be a weakling.On the other side is the FBI, doing their best to track down and kill Cheadle, led by Guy Pearce and Neal McDonough, the uber-Aryan. Except for the fact that Pearce's Daddy and Grandad were both Baptist preachers, both men are ciphers, doing what the good guys always do. There is no conflict or comparison made between the values of Islam and those of Christianity.In sum, there is some genuinely promising material here, and not badly handled by the director. But Cheadle, who was exemplary in "Traffic", seems a lightweight here, and it's a pivotal role. The writer and editor should be put on bread and water for two months or until they each lose thirty pounds, whichever comes first.

Based on the glitzy DVD jacket, I didn't see it coming: the disappointmentHad I bothered to read the credits, I would have drop-kicked this one back to the bargain bin's bottom. Writer: Steve Martin? Are you kidding me? Inspector Clousseau should have made a cameo. For certain, this oh so dreary spy/political film was in dire need of comedic moments. EG. How about a word from the disgraced Inspector. "Hello, my friend the internet."Speaking of comedy, why'd they include Jeff Daniels? He of little or no faith added nothing to the already convoluted, Ahem, plot. A good 'bad' example. When he and Cheadle tried to disguise their clandestine meeting after a crazed terrorist 'friend' showed up (unannounced) I half expected Harry to blurt out what he does best. "I'm shaving!"BANG! BANG! One and Dunn. Dead. Gone! Even his designer threads could not belie this mistake in casting. And it showed. Jeff, even stood out. In the rain. Fake though it was.I'll back it up a bit...This film lacks substance. And a plot. And some good intelligent subterfuge. But what it lacked in substance it more than made up for in horrible acting. Don Cheadle, as the lead character, Samir Horn, the American Muslim-come-lately but always high on Koran quotations is unconvincing. To wit, we don't know who Samir is-was-or his wannabees. For hours Cheadle's expression is rigid; speech is stunted; his interaction (other than a few clumsily staged karate chop-chop scenes) with the other characters both baddies and goodies is bizarre.Same case can be made for the pursuers: the FBI. Guy Pearce as 'good cop' Roy Clayton is a study in twisted logic. Not the J. Edgar type we have grown accustomed to. Other than a constant grimace and an over pierced U.S. Southern accent, Pearce, like the film, looks tortured for the most part. Acts like it too. Make that all the time.Ditto. For his partner in anti-terrorism, Max Archer (here we go again with those fake designer labels) played by ex-Hawaii 5-0 cop, Dano. Er, make that Neil McDonough.In appearance, the whole FBI anti-terrorism central command skits are knock-offs and really sound like episodes from CNN's Wolf Blitzer's 'Situation Room'. Martin, perhaps should have wrote this horrible script for the fake newscasters instead. Sans the comedy...Moreover, the Muslim terrorists are equally bad-good-inept. Depending on which verse of the Koran is quoted. Even Pearce gets into the act. He, of deft/daft intellect is so quick to wipe the crime slate clean; for any heinous deed, including murder. In his defense Guy growls: "The Koran says so. So did my Baptist Minister daddy." Guess this line was necessary. To create religious tension. So far, the marauding Crusaders of yore are spared blamed. That title is reserved for America. All of its people. No one is spared. Then a toast. The terrorists raise their champagne glasses. But not to Allah. Unless the flutes are without alcohol. Righttt...And chief terrorist, bottle-washer and bag-man, Nathir, played by Raad Rawi, who likes to hold mens' hands in tightwad prayer circles comes across, well, like TV's Monk. Looks like Tony too!Hard for me to find a bright spot. There were some glimpses. Fleeting though. Those came in the form of Mozhan Marno, as 'Leyla'. Including the classic rock song may have pushed Martin's I'm-to-be-taken serious boundaries. Seriously, where were those?Time for one more, memorable but deplorable designer moment. Another fake name. Maybe straight out of People Magazine: Archie Panjabi, as, Chandra Dawkin. No doubt about this one: another fake and useless character inclusion.Won't torture you anymore. Do yourself a favor. Don't rent or buy this foible of a film. That was really all about horse chit. And dumb chatter. Except for Harry Dunn. Jeff's only real, believable character.

Okay, so now we know not all Muslims are devils - well, only stupid ignorant people thought (and still think) that in the first place.This film was all over the place - literally - many locations, quick cuts, exotic places, all felt real.That's about it.It lost my interest as soon as it was clear that the lead character was a mole - then it was just another film about a mole, and boring at that.Maybe I've watched too many films to get excited over this one.Maybe it's because I'm not American, yeah yeah, the government can and will protect its people (except for the bus driver...), a little too propaganda-ish for my taste.I found myself wanting to see a film about the bombers, they seemed like ordinary nice people, why would they want to do a thing like that.And sure, the terrorist gang leaders would employ a former special agent - haha And sure, the FBI agent would type the NAME of a most wanted person as a reply to an e-mail with vital information - and the terrorists didn't intercept THAT...they had access to everything else. And sure, it's so easy to knock out strong men with one blow to the head....and the only way to meet a girlfriend is in a public place....I will stop here, of course there are faults in every movie, but this one wanted to be smart, well, it wasn't.I agree with the one thing: That it's not about religion. There is good and bad in every 'holy' book, and there is good and bad in people. Books don't kill people.