The Traitor has wasted a series of really big opportunities, despite taking two and half very long hours of the viewers' time (definitely too much for the results it achieves).
The Traitor could have been the opportunity to explore in depth the complex and controversial personality of Tommaso Buscetta but the movie barely scratches the surface of this multifaceted character.
It could have been the opportunity to dig into the overall role of the "pentiti" of the mafia, the former "men of honour" turned into witnesses for the state; this was a very controversial, ambiguous and surely humanly difficult choice for those people yet again the movie misses its chance.
It could have been the opportunity to offer a deep look into a dramatic moment of the contemporary history of the Italian mafia, the bloody 80' and 90's, but these events are presented in a rather fragmented, disjointed manner, bordering sometimes the caricature (like the trial scenes).
The one thing to be saved of the movie is Favino's performance, really stunning.
Review of The Traitor
