PRAISE FOR STELLAN:

"The best quality in the film is the acting. Ewan McGregor looks better than he ever has before, and he effectively captures the uncertain will of Perry. But the major reason for seeing the film may be the tour de force performance by Stellan Skarsgård. As Dimi, Skarsgård is part bear and part big playful dog. He's powerful, but insecure. A whirling dervish of vulnerability."   ...Film critic Tony Macklin

"The stand-out is Skarsgård as an outwardly blustering and inwardly tortured man who is willing to do anything to save his family."   ...Film critic Mark Dujsik

"'Our Kind of Traitor' is essentially redeemed by Skarsgård’s outstanding and quite revealing performance; his Dima lurches across the screen like a fairytale giant whose huge footsteps make the very Earth shake."  ...Shirley Sealey, Film Journal International

"As played by Skarsgård, Dima is a wonderful creation: a tattooed, garrulous bear of a man who regards sex and violence with nonchalance but perks up at any demonstration of honor or bravery."   ...Bilge Ebiri, Village Voice

"It's perhaps unsurprising that it's Skarsgård who steals the show, his Dima a boisterous and affable Russian who hides his fear underneath an entirely contrasting exterior. He's a compelling character, and it's interesting to see Skarsgård take on a role that has a little bit more under the bonnet than usual."  ...Jamie Neish, CineVue

"Stellan Skarsgård is asylum-craving Russian money launderer Dima. Part threat, part victim, he’s a gold-ribbon-wrapped gift of a character for Skarsgård who revels in Dima’s blingy, diabolical side while deftly teasing out his sensitivities."  ...Dan Jolin, Empire Magazine

"What you will enjoy are the actors, in particular Skarsgård as this Russian bear named Dima, a larger-than-life figure at first encounter with ostentatious wealth flowing from his very being and a hearty embrace that masks a man frightened to his very core."  ...Film critic Kirk Honeycutt

"Dima, an outsized and gregarious Russian businessman, is played with ravenous enthusiasm by Stellan Skarsgård... The intrigue is loose, but Skarsgård is gloriously heavy. He’s also buck naked, at times."   ...Brad Wheeler, The Globe and Mail

"A loudly effusive, tattooed Russian thug on the lam named Dima is played by Stellan Skarsgård who contributes significantly to the film’s pleasures."  ...Michael O'Sullivan, The Washington Post

"The only thing that brings the film to life is Skarsgård's fantastic performance, by turns jubilant and despairing, and always absolutely riveting."  ...Joanna Conners, Cleveland Plain Dealer

"The Russian (Stellan Skarsgård) is a hard guy to say no to. He’s persistent, familiar and charismatic, but with the faint hint of something unsavory and threatening about him.  Skarsgård locates his performance in that odd zone where appealing meets scary, and he’s by far the most interesting thing in the movie."   ...Mick LaSalle, SFGate.com

"You’ll never be blown away, yet certain segments do raise an eyebrow or two thanks to Stellan Skarsgård’s lovably Soviet Don personality. Ewan McGregor may play the film’s unlikely lead, but it’s Skarsgård who steals every scene through his larger-than-life, bearish mannerisms."  ...Matt Donato, We Got This Covered

"The performances from Skarsgård and Lewis have enough vitality to float the workmanlike show from the rest of the cast."   ...Zach Middleton, Willamette Week

"The film’s one bright spot is Stellan Skarsgård as Dima. Wearing a leather jacket and an oily mullet, Dima looks like movie mobsters often do, but Skarsgård turns him into an appealing personality with a lust for life and a world-weary wisdom."  ...Rafer Guzman, Newsday

"It’s Skarsgård who energizes the film with his broad, oversized turn as the wily Russian crook turned against his confederates."  ...Frank Swietek, One Guy's Opinion

"Skarsgård, covered in a road map of tattoos, is riveting, offering a character that doesn't really recall anything else he's done. Dima is brutish and physical, but he's also a devoted family man. It's a well-rounded performance, and it has to be: After all, he has to be charismatic to inspire these characters to risk so much."  ...Randy Cordova, The Arizona Republic

"Skarsgård is magnetic playing the mob money man."   ...Screen It!

"It’s Skarsgård who owns 'Our Kind of Traitor,' making Dima seem larger than life but also vulnerable. Games of trust and paranoia register clearly with the actor, who goes big but never unpleasantly so, singlehandedly maintaining energy levels as he explores a possibly lethal character."    ...Brian Orndof, Blu-ray.com

"It’s probably not the best sign when you leave a spy thriller thinking, 'Man, that Stellan Skarsgård makes a great Russian!' But the Swedish actor nails the part of Dima, a swaggering, brusque, casually profane, hard partying Russian Mafioso with a head for figures, who wants to get out of the money laundering business while he still has a head on his portly figure."   ...Chris Knight, National Post

"The film flies highest on the wings of two dynamite actors: Stellan Skarsgård  as Dimitri "Dima" Vladimirovich Krasnov, a big, roaring bear of a Russian money launderer looking to defect; and Damian Lewis as Hector Meredith, a reserved British intelligence officer."   ...Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

"'Traitor' would be totally lost without Skarsgård's gregarious presence, chewing scenery from behind a thick mane of Nick Nolte hair and enough tattoos to make “Monster Garage’s” Jesse James jealous. Like his son Alexander in 'Tarzan,' Skarsgård goes ape as a larger-than-life party animal whose love of women, fireworks and high-octane alcohol stands in direct contrast to his family loving softer side. In essence, we get two quasi-villains in one. Is he a good guy, or a bad guy?"   ...Al Alexander, The Patriot Ledger

"Skarsgård is all hand gestures and belly laughs as the gregarious, bigger-than-life bruiser Dina."   ...Tirdad Derakhshani, Philly.com

"McGregor and Skarsgård are superb. The former infusing an eager, intelligent innocence to the imperturbable sense of honor that won’t let him walk away from this shady character who has put both him and Gail at risk. The latter a shaggy gregarious manipulator with palpable cunning and, as it turns out, the purest of motives and, sometimes, the softest of hearts. And this is why the story is so gripping."  ...Andrea Chase, Killer Movie Reviews

"Skarsgård steals every scene."   ...San Francisco Film Society

"It's perhaps unsurprising that it's Skarsgård who steals the show, his Dima a boisterous and affable Russian who hides his fear underneath an entirely contrasting exterior. He's a compelling character, and it's interesting to see Skarsgård take on a role that has a little bit more under the bonnet than usual."   ..Jamie Neish, CineVue

"The interactions with Skarsgård are highly entertaining as he curses almost every other word and struts around in the nude, fully tattooed."  ...Dominique Perrett, The Upcoming

"The plot kicks in once the couple accept an invitation for drinks from gregarious Russian mobster Dima, played to the hilt by Stellan Skarsgård. Dima is larger than life; a boisterous bear of a man who could sweep you up in his warm embrace or rip out your throat without a thought. Swilling down booze and parading around starkers, a spectacularly tattooed Skarsgård makes Dima good company and is the fi lm’s stand-out performance."  ...Allan Hunter, Express

"Alone among the key cast, Skarsgård charges into his role with some sweat and pungency, playing Dima as a bedraggled beast of Moscow’s criminal underworld who lashes out when he’s wounded. This part has survived, from book to script and casting switch. He gives it a pained weight, splurging cash and clinging even to his new best friends, like a man who knows the good life’s metered and the clock is ticking. Billed as the traitor, he's just about the only one not letting us down."  ...Tim Robey, Telegraph

"Stellan Skarsgård gives a powerhouse performance."  ...Clive Botting, Huffington Post

"The committed performance from Skarsgard... is what manages to save the film from completely failing, with the talented actor exuding a boisterous presence and charisma that is hard to deny."  ...Marija Loncarevic, Cairo360

"McGregor is a maestro at playing the ordinary guy out of his depth and the perfect foil to Skarsgård’s flamboyant and superlative Dima, while Lewis is wonderfully intense and cagey as the maverick Hector who is obsessed with bringing down his corrupt former chief played slickly and smarmily by Jeremy Northam.  But it is Skarsgård who steals the film with an unforgettable performance. How will I ever erase the image of him striding naked covered in tattoos across a spa. Director Susana White delivers an understated yet riveting cinematic adaptation of Le Carre with a compelling and intelligent screenplay by Hossein Amini."   ...Maria Duarte, Morning Star Online

"Ewan and Naomie are believable and Damian Lewis plays aloof poshness very well, but Stellan Skarsgård steals it. Was this lunatic, tennis-playing Russian really the same guy who had us in tears as River on BBC1 just a short while ago?" Grant Rollings, The Sun

"Skarsgård’s turn as an overbearing, open-collared Russian stereotype proves to be the film’s strongest asset... So many of Skarsgård’s past performances rely on his intellect that it’s a rare pleasure to see him slip into such a physical role, whether he’s puffing his chest to show off Russian prison tattoos or strangling one of the Prince’s thugs with his bare hands."  ...Peter Debruge, Variety

"While McGregor and Harris convincingly portray a couple in trouble, and Lewis’s odball spook is an uneasy fit, it is Skarsgård’s dynamic performance which saves the day. Forget Hiddlesbum: the sight of the beefy, long-haired actor emerging from a sauna in his heavily-tattooed birthday suit is not easily forgotten."   ...Fionnuala Halligan, Screen International

"The scene-stealers are Skarsgård and Lewis, both as larger-than-life figures who are funny and scary at the same time. This is a rare thriller that avoids all of the usual cheap tricks to tell its story with proper intensity and meaning."   ...Rich Cline, Contact Music

"In the hands of director Susanna White, this is a less opaque film than some recent le Carré adaptations. But it still allows for some rich characterization, especially from Skarsgård as the larger-than-life Russian and Lewis as the British spook trying to put on a brave face."  ...Dave Calhoun, Timeout London

"The story’s biggest personality, however, is the Russian mafia insider Dima  who offers to blow the lid on proceedings, on the proviso that British intelligence guarantee safe harbour for him and his family in the UK. He’s an ebullient hardman, played with relish by Skarsgård, and it’s his relationship with McGregor’s Perry which holds the film together, much like that between Hugh Laurie and Hiddleston in The Night Manager."    ...Henry Fitzherbert, Daily Express

"Unsurprisingly, a larger-than-life Skarsgård is the show-stopper, even if the film as a whole is solid rather than spectacular."  ...James Mottram, The List

"Skarsgård is in flamboyant form, urbane and charming one moment, utterly brutal the next, strangely sentimental about his family and with more than a hint of Rasputin about him."   ...Geoffrey Macnab, Independent

"Peering out from behind Harry Palmer-ish glasses, the script gives Damian Lewis’s MI6 agent Hector Meredith an absurd amount of expository heavy lifting... Yet he and a rambunctious Skarsgård goose up the movie. Without them, it sags."  ...Danny Leigh, The Financial Times

"Anchored by Skarsgård's eye-catching portrayal of a family man with a twisted moral code, 'Our Kind Of Traitor' simmers pleasantly, but never turns up the heat sufficiently on McGregor and Harris' do gooders."   ...Gloucestershire Echo

"Director Susanna White favours a generic spy-movie look: those chilly blue filters surely need resting now. Yet she works smartly with her actors: while Skarsgård wolfs down great handfuls of scenery, McGregor effectuates a thoughtful transformation from ineffectual tourist to man in the field."  ...Mike McCahill, Guardian