We’ve come to expect a lot from Don Cheadle. The star of “Hotel Rwanda” and “Talk to Me” has become one of America’s favorite “serious actors,” a true professional who takes his craft seriously and consistently delivers a high-quality product. Cheadle’s star power has become such that any movie with his name attached is expected to be a significant work — something special that either redefines its genre (think “Ocean’s Eleven”) or teaches us something about ourselves and our world.

Thus, when Cheadle signed up to play a possibly-rogue CIA agent in “Traitor,” the new movie from writer-director Jeffrey Nachmanoff, he sent the message that this was not going to be your everyday spy thriller.

For the most part, “Traitor” delivers that message. The film follows Samir Horn (Cheadle), a Muslim born in Sudan but raised in Chicago, as he infiltrates the cell of the terrorist Nathir. Samir has to deal with all the run-of-the-mill dangers of pretending to be a jihad, as well as fend off two pesky FBI agents (Guy Pearce and Neal McDonough) who think he’s a real terrorist and thus will not leave him alone.

What sets “Traitor” apart from most spy movies, and makes it worth the Cheadle name, is the attention it pays to the terrorists themselves. The majority of the two-hour film is spent on the terrorists, and the movie portrays them not as crazed fundamentalists but as intelligent, thoughtful men who believe firmly in the goodness of their cause. Samir himself is a devout Muslim, though far from a jihadist, and his conversations with terrorist leaders Nathir (Raad Rawi) and Omar (Saïd Taghmaoui), are among the best in the film.

Which is not to say that “Traitor” in any way celebrates terrorism — it merely refrains from vilifying it. In addition, while the movie succeeds in presenting a balanced view of the “terrorist” mentality, it does not fall into the trap of doing so at the expense of the Western “anti-terrorist” actions. Often, spy movies present the establishment forces as little more than a bunch of bumbling idiots, who talk tough but can’t get the job done when it counts. The “Bourne” series is a great example of this; the CIA has 30 guys working on one case, using the best technology in the world, yet Jason Bourne outsmarts them all. “Traitor,” for the most part, stays away from this. Though FBI agents Clayton (Pearce) and Archer (McDonough) do have to wade through a fair amount of red tape, and though their actions are inherently reactionary — it seems the curse of the big guy to forever play catch-up — their efforts are efficient and more than competent. What’s more, Clayton and Archer are real, three-dimensional characters, not just bulldogs whose only goal is to catch the bad guys and shoot their guns. Special commendation should go to Guy Pearce for his portrayal of the Southern Baptist, Ph.D.-wielding Agent Clayton. Pearce, who hasn’t done much since “Memento,” plays Clayton with a mixture of aptitude and gentleness that’s sure to earn him a few extra looks in Hollywood.

Cheadle, as expected, crafts Samir into a subtle and conflicted character, though at times he allows Samir to get a little too comfortable in his job as a professional killer. Third-time director Jeffrey Nachmanoff shows a solid grasp of the basics of filmmaking, emphasizing the chiaroscuro effect of the harsher lighting of his Middle Eastern locations and focusing more on color and background detail in more subdued areas such as Chicago and Canada. Nachmanoff does have the tendency to use visual effects such as blurs and hand-held cameras at inappropriate moments, but overall he gives a solid and effective effort.

Perhaps “Traitor”s biggest surprise, though, is that the story was written by Steve Martin, the former “Saturday Night Live” star who previously constrained his efforts to comedy. Perhaps this film will mark the beginning of Martin’s transition into films more dramatic than “Cheaper by the Dozen 2.” And it’s an auspicious beginning, one that certainly deserves to be called “a spy movie — but a Don Cheadle spy movie.”