''Betrayed'' is a 1988 American spy thriller film directed by

Costa-Gavras Konstantinos "Kostas" Gavras (; born 12 February 1933), known professionally as Costa-Gavras, is a Greek-French film director, screenwriter, and producer who lives and works in France. He is known for political films, such as the political thril ...

, written by

Joe Eszterhas József Antal Eszterhás (; born November 23, 1944), credited as Joe Eszterhas, is a Hungarian-American writer. Born in Hungary, he grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. After an early career as a journalist and editor, he entered t ...

, and starring

Debra Winger Debra Lynn Winger (born May 16, 1955) is an American actress. She starred in the films '' An Officer and a Gentleman'' (1982), '' Terms of Endearment'' (1983), and '' Shadowlands'' (1993), each of which earned her a nomination for the Academy Awa ...

and

Tom Berenger Tom Berenger (born Thomas Michael Moore; May 31, 1949) is an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the Staff Sergeant Bob Barnes in ''Platoon'' (1986). He is also known for playing ...

. The plot is roughly based upon the terrorist activities of American

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

and

white supremacist White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

Robert Mathews and his group The Order.

Plot

Set in the American Midwest, the film begins with the murder of a Jewish radio host in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

undercover A cover in foreign, military or police human intelligence or counterintelligence is the ostensible identity and role or position in an infiltrated organization assumed by a covert agent during a covert operation. Official cover In espionage, a ...

agent Catherine Weaver, alias Katie Phillips, sets out to infiltrate a farming community, suspected of harboring those responsible. After receiving a warm welcome from land-owner and farmer Gary Simmons, his two children and

extended family An extended family is a family that extends beyond the nuclear family of parents and their children to include aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins or other relatives, all living nearby or in the same household. Particular forms include the stem ...

, she begins to believe that the FBI lead is erroneous. Throwing caution to the wind, she falls in love with Simmons, a

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

veteran who appears to command the respect of the local community. A short while later, her suspicions are aroused by talk of family secrets and as more chilling events unfold. One night Gary takes Katie hunting, where she meets with a huge group of white men and women who have brought a black shirtless man. They give the man a gun with 10 bullets and order him to run in the forest to save himself while they prey on him. When caught exhausted and unarmed, the group suggests Katie kill him but she does not. The man is killed and Katie informs the FBI, but is sent back to gather more evidence. Gary's family goes on a picnic with other families where they are training everyone and schooling kids to harbor hate against Jews and colored people. The group's next plan is to rob a bank in Chicago where Katie accompanies them and during the robbery shoots a guard. The guard is saved but one member of the clan is shot and killed. Katie's next assignment is to identify the person whose campaign will be funded by the stolen money. While she tries to get that information out of Gary, he finds out her true identity yet takes her with him on his last assignment. Katie tries to inform the FBI but fails. During the trip, Katie tries to stop Gary from shooting her. When he does not, she kills him in self-defense. She quits the FBI and visits Gary's family.

Cast

Production notes

The opening sequence is loosely based on the 1984 murder of Denver talk radio host

Alan Berg Alan Harrison Berg (January 1934 – June 18, 1984) was an American talk radio show host in Denver, Colorado. Born to a Jewish family, he had outspoken atheistic and liberal views and a confrontational interview style. Berg was assassinated b ...

, which was carried out by white supremacist group known as The Order.

Reception

Critical response

''Betrayed'' received mostly negative reviews. At

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds a 36% "Rotten" rating based on 14 reviews. Sheila Benson in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' in August 1988 believed ''Betrayed'' contained "a loosening of the trademark Costa-Gavras tension and the sogging of a relevant issue into overwrought pulp", which for all the efforts of the actors "the film begins at the implausible and works its way quickly downhill". It lurches "from the outrageous to the outright ludicrous".

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

wrote: "a film that left me in turmoil, torn between the strong sympathies I felt for the characters and the fundamental doubts I had about the plot. Here were people I believed in, involved in a story that no one could believe in." Ebert thought there was a conflict between the thriller envisaged in the screenplay by Eszterhas and the presumed wish of Costa-Gavras to make a political film, but there still remains "two performances of such power that the characters become real, and sympathetic, despite everything", in reference to the central roles of Berenger and Winger.

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, who served as a film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1977 to 1999, serving as chief critic for the last six years, and then a literary critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, M ...

in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' itemized what she saw as the film's "story problems". She doubted there was a feasible way "to stage the sequence that has the amorous Gary dragging his new sweetheart along on a racist hunting expedition, insisting 'You'll like this' when she protests? Is it possible, after this, that she can still find him attractive? Is the F.B.I. really apt to send a brand-new female agent on such a dangerous mission, to deny her adequate backup and to bully her when she complains? John Heard, who is good as an F.B.I. colleague who's in love with Cathy, is meant to provide the element of sexual jealousy that explains this. But like too much of ''Betrayed,'' it just doesn't make sense." In a 1996 interview, Berenger named ''Betrayed'' as his favorite film, shrugging off any media criticism with the retort "It was exactly what it was meant to be".

Box office

The film debuted at #2 at the box office, earning $5,534,787 and coming in behind the second weekend of '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master''. The film would go on to gross $25,816,139 in the United States.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Betrayed (1988 Film) Films about the Ku Klux Klan 1988 films 1980s English-language films 1980s spy thriller films American spy thriller films Films about race and ethnicity Films directed by Costa Gavras Films set in Chicago Films set in Texas Films with screenplays by Joe Eszterhas United Artists films Works about white nationalism Films scored by Bill Conti American neo-noir films 1988 drama films Films about racism in the United States Films about the Federal Bureau of Investigation Films about neo-Nazis 1980s American films English-language thriller films