"Stop saying that! I'm an actor!" ... yep, never gets old: "Traitor"

Sure, Don Cheadle may get nominated for Oscars and all that. But he'll always be Buck Swope to me, and that scene in the bank during "Boogie Nights" is still a heartbreaker. "You're not being fair!" Kills me every time.

I read good things about this thriller when it came out last year and was excited to see it pop up during the Free Movie Weekend Extravaganza. Cheadle plays a Muslim arms dealer who used to be a U.S. Special Ops guy but now has fallen in with true believers. Meanwhile, a couple of Feds (Guy Pearce and Neal McDonough) are bouncing around tracking suicide bombers overseas for a clue to when and where a terrorist group might strike in the U.S. Cheadle is a good lead, but he doesn't want to play ball. Go figure.

The big question, of course, is which side Cheadle is on, and why. Lurking around as some shadowy intelligence higher-up is Jeff Daniels. But all eyes are on Donny here, who plays it pretty straight as far as being a devout Muslim who seems to want justice in the world. Just whose justice is what we're left to wonder.

Even when we find out where our (anti)hero stands, there's plenty of drama left, thanks to this big ol' strike planned against America. And get this: The story is by Steve Martin. Yes, that Steve Martin. I half expected to see Cheadle walking around with an arrow with his head and telling Pearce during an interrogation, "Well, excuuuuuuusssse MEEEEEE!"

(Sidebar: Just looked for some old Martin comedy bits, and came across this little gem. Not what you'd expect, but quite amusing. And that hair!)

Pearce is pretty good with the Southern accent -- Georgia, not Victoria -- and makes a good good guy. But Cheadle is better, and between his poker face and the intriguing plot -- nice job, Steve -- I came away largely satisfied. Even if he didn't take time to explain what high fidelity means.