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The John le Carré-based spy drama "Our Kind of Traitor" delivers some cool thrills in the void left by the end of the Cold War.
Perry (Ewan McGregor), a poetics professor in London, and his barrister wife, Gail (Naomie Harris), are on holiday in Marrakech when they encounter Dima (Stellan Skarsgard), a garrulous Russian who has rented a villa for his family and a ridiculous number of bodyguards. When Dima gets Perry alone, the Russian explains why: He's the numbers guy for the elite part of the Russian mob and wants asylum for his family in exchange for evidence of mob corruption of British officials. Perry takes Dima's evidence to Hector (Damian Lewis), who's keen to take down his former boss (Jeremy Northam), but needs more proof, so Perry and Gail become reluctant go-betweens.
A drum-tight script by Hossein Amini ("Drive") keeps the tension at a low boil, and director Susanna White ("Nanny McPhee Returns") doesn't try to overwhelm with too much extraneous action. The result is a smart tale of corrosive corruption that captures le Carré's world-weary cynicism perfectly.
'Our Kind of Traitor'
Opens Friday, July 1, at area theaters; rated R of violence, language throughout, some sexuality, nudity and brief drug use; 107 minutes.