Betrayed (1988)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

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

Tom Berenger's own favorite

Debra Winger plays an FBI agent investigating the death of an obnoxious radio talk show host, but he may have been killed by some white supremacist group. She goes undercover in America's heartland and befriends farmer Tom Berenger, who may have had something to do with the whole thing.

Racism and political beliefs courtesy of Costa-Gavras. Many viewers feel this film completely missed the mark on both accounts. I, on the other hand, have always enjoyed the film very much and think of it mostly as a drama piece, focusing mostly on Berenger's and Winger's relationship. As a suspense flick it also delivers, with high tension especially during the climatic finale. Granted, some scenes are pretty tough to take, but from my point of view this is an excellent study of how many "pure" white folks see the world. They're not depicted here as complete and utter monsters, but regular folks who have radically different worldview than most (I hope).

On the trivia side, Berenger himself said in an interview that this was his favorite among all his films.