The spy action movie “Traitor” took a long time to make because, as writer-director Jeffrey Nachmanoff says, “it’s too dangerous a subject matter for a studio picture.”

The film originated, surprisingly, in an idea that Steve Martin thought of and sold to Disney.

It could have been more interesting and stirred more controversies if it had focused on morality and the way the terrorist mind works, but it eventually is more about conspiracies, races and bombings.

Opening Wednesday, the film tells the story of Samir Horn, played by Don Cheadle, a Muslim who has been caught selling detonators to an Islamic militant cell.

Samir is befriended in prison by a terrorist named Omar, played by Moroccan-French actor Said Taghmaoui, who appreciates Samir’s skills with explosives and also finds in him a true believer. Even though he was born and raised in the U.S., Samir became a jihadist following the assassination of his father.

During a prison break, Omar escapes and takes Samir with him, and then the two are plotting to blow up buses across America simultaneously.

All this time, the terrorist network is being tracked by Guy Pearce’s FBI agent Roy Clayton and his partner Max Archer (Neal McDonough), who develop an interesting and enjoyable relationship in the movie.

Don Cheadle said he was interested in the movie because of the moral battle inside Samir’s head.

“Samir finds himself in a tug-of-war,” Cheadle said. “His Muslim faith dictates one thing and his duty to his country another.”

The most compelling part of the script for him, Cheadle says, is that the film is not about politics but about a human being who is trying to realize what is right.

For his future plans, Cheadle wishes to direct and also star in his long-delayed Miles Davis biography.