'Traitor' (PG-13)(out of four)

Samir is a practicing Muslim, and he is intimately involved in the ongoing war on terrorism. But while he's certainly standing in the middle of it all, we can't exactly tell what side he's fighting for.

Is Samir a bomb designer, aiding Islamist extremists in devising an attack on America -- a bone-chilling scheme in which 50 bombs will be detonated simultaneously across the country? Or is he a double-agent: an American hero who has infiltrated the enemy ranks and has ascended the chain of command in hopes of keeping us safe?

Samir's motives are a point of debate, but his religion is not. He is Muslim, and at the center of the heart-pounding new thriller "Traitor" is a revealing look at the many different shades of the Muslim faith. For those who may view the religion with skeptical eyes, here's a movie that draws clear lines between the mainstream and the extremists, suggesting that there's about as little to link moderate Muslims to the fanatics of their congregations as there is to link the majority of Christians to the Ku Klux Klan.

Played fearlessly by a calm, contemplative and unshakable Don Cheadle, we meet Samir at a prison in Yemen. He's been locked up for terrorist activities, he's already told FBI agent Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) that he won't cooperate with any American investigations, and as the days tick by, Samir starts to win the admiration of his fellow inmates, chiefly Omar (Said Taghmaoui), who aids Samir in escaping, and introduces him to the upper leadership of a terrorist cell. While the issues of the Muslim faith are front and center here, what "Traitor" illuminates even more effectively is the chaos of this particular brand of modern warfare. Jumping between oceans and cultures, we see Clayton and his colleagues, rushing to decipher intercepted e-mail messages and pouring over video footage of bombing sites that show Samir walking the streets in the moments before and after a blast.

Meanwhile, as Samir mourns the innocent civilians who for some reason were within reach of the European embassy blast he helped to set off, we realize that he is on our side, and that the blood he has spilt -- killings that go against his sense of nationality and spirituality -- are the high price he is being forced to pay to do his job.

In burying his motivations and true feelings, Cheadle is the reason we remain riveted by the mystery of it all. Our uncertainty, as to just who exactly Samir is fighting for, is replaced by the mystery of whether Samir can avoid losing his soul in keeping up this fight for his country. His only point of contact with his old way of life is a Washington big-wig, Carter (Jeff Daniels), but outside of their few hushed conversations, Samir is on his own, waist-deep in the muck, struggling to keep hold of his beliefs despite the chaos raining down around him.

Through the decades, we've witnessed a wave of films about the Cold War, about spies trying to navigate the dangerous terrain, using code words and secret handshakes. The stakes were big, and the movies were about the clear-and-present danger waiting in the wings, lingering at every turn.

In "Traitor," we see a new model for a sub-genre of terrorism films -- war movies of a far more immediate stripe. There's less spying here than bloodshed, less chessboard maneuvering than daily bombs adding to the body count.

This is war in the digital age, less about soldiers and front lines than about recruited suicide bombers and improvised explosive devices. Winning the war in "Traitor" can only come through Samir compromising his beliefs. In a war without nations or flags, with no end in sight, the haunting "Traitor" asks us: What must be sacrificed to win the contest -- and is that cost worth the effort?