Betrayed (1988)

Director:

Costa-Gavras

Writer:

Joe Eszterhas (written by)

Release Date:

26 August 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller | Action | Romance

Plot:

A woman starts work on a farm, and gets to know the owner. They get on well, and she also gets on with his children...

Plot Keywords:

FBI | Violence | Murder | Country | Racism

Cast

Debra Winger	...	Catherine Weaver
Tom Berenger	...	Gary Simmons
John Heard	...	Michael 'Mike' Carnes
Betsy Blair	...	Gladys Simmons
John Mahoney	...	Shorty
Ted Levine	...	Wes
Jeffrey DeMunn	...	Bobby Flynn
Albert Hall	...	Al Sanders
David Clennon	...	Jack Carpenter
Robert Swan	...	Dean
Richard Libertini	...	Sam Kraus
Maria Valdez	...	Rachel Simmons
Brian Bosak	...	Joey Simmons
Alan Wilder	...	Duffin
Clifford A. Pellow	...	Reverend Russell Johnson

Also Known As:

Summer Lightning (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

127 min | Argentina:126 min

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16 | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Bragg Creek, Alberta, Canada

Company:

CST Telecommunications

Trivia:

Last cinema film of Betsy Blair.

Quotes:

Cathy Weaver: You want something, Michael. I'll give you something. He named his dog after Ronald Reagan.
Al Sanders: Well, he ain't all bad.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Seinfeld: The Comeback (#8.13)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

Mars and Venus

Potentially explosive subject matter manufactured for depressing results

Federal agent Debra Winger goes undercover in rural Texas as a combine operator, infiltrating a group of down-home guys and their families in the hopes of linking them to white supremacy and the murder of a shock-talk radio host. Winger is romanced by the group's ringleader (Tom Berenger), and very quickly seems to cross many lines that aren't covered in the FBI trainee's manual. Berenger takes Winger to a KKK camp-out, to a human hunt (with a black man as the target) and to a bank robbery (to finance their cause), yet Debra's superiors actually request that she get more probing evidence! An exasperating movie, with facetious, halting dialogue leaving whole sequences feeling half-finished--and Winger's character without much personality. Director Costa-Gavras seems intent on underplaying this whole matter, to the point where even shocking moments come off as muted, matter-of-fact occurrences. **1/2 from ****