They say the best chess strategy hinges less on making your own brilliant moves than on anticipating your opponents'. They might say the same about spy thrillers, of which director Jeffrey Nachmanoff's "Traitor" is the best in many moons.

Structured much like a chess game -- an accelerated one, on amphetamines -- it opens in Sudan 1978, when the halcyon life of a devout, educated boy named Samir is shattered by the car-bomb murder of his father. Cut three decades to present-day Yemen, where the adult Samir (Don Cheadle) is bringing a truckload of explosive devices to a group of old mujahideen pals from Afghanistan.

But there's been a tip-off. The deal is suddenly and violently interrupted by a police raid. Samir, among the few not killed, is arrested and thrown into a Yemeni prison that makes Abu Ghraib look like a Palm Springs health spa. There, he is interrogated by FBI agents Clayton (Guy Pearce) and Archer (Neal McDonough) in an effort to sort out contradictory evidence indicating he's either a true terrorist, a sleazy arms dealer, a decent Muslim American or a disaffected U.S. Special Operations officer with some hidden conspiratorial agenda of his own. They rough him up, to no avail.

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"Traitor"

3 1/2 stars = Very good
Ratings explained

• Starring: Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce
• Rating: PG-13 for intense violent sequences, thematic material and brief language.
• Web site: traitor-themovie.com

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He's even rougher-upped by his fellow prisoners until one of them, jihadist Omar (Said Taghmaoui), recognizes him as a Muslim of deep faith -- a thinker, not a soldier, in the holy war. In a daring, dazzling prison break, Omar escapes with Samir to Marseilles, enlisting him and his suicide-vest expertise in the larger cause: There will be trial runs in Spain and France, followed by border crossings in Canada and Mexico, building up to a grand terrorist strike at 50 -- count them, 50! -- places, simultaneously, in the heartland of America.

Co-writer Nachmanoff's screenplay (based on an idea by Steve Martin) ratchets up the suspense with a calibrated progression of surprises, which mask the one credulity-stretching weakness of the story: that U.S. anti-terrorist interagency rivalries and lack of intelligence-sharing could survive the real-life security gaffes and lessons learned from Sept. 11, 2001.

Cheadle perfectly straddles the fence between innocence and guilt, periodically toppling over into one side or the other to confound our assumptions. Cheadle's presence and credibility (mostly from "Hotel Rwanda") lend gravitas to the tale, as does subtle FBI agent Pearce ("L.A. Confidential") vs. his unsubtle sidekick McDonough.

Nachmanoff's constantly mobile camera is virtuosic and compelling, advancing the plot without sacrificing coherence. His cinematography and seamless editing amount to what, in music, would be called an "allegro ma non troppo tempo," with a payoff ending that's worth the wait.

"Traitor" is a refreshing relief from superhero action. It's even more refreshing (and instructive) for a Hollywood film to incorporate the nuances instead of just the stereotypes of Islamic radicalism.

"This is war," says an American. "You do what it takes to win."

"God is on our side," says a Muslim.

Sound familiar? Switch it around, if you like. The human result is always the same. But the film result here is a little different.