''Betrayed'' is a 1988 American

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

thriller film directed by

Costa-Gavras Costa-Gavras (short for Konstantinos Gavras; el, Κωνσταντίνος Γαβράς; born 12 February 1933) is a Greek-French film director, screenwriter, and producer who lives and works in France. He is known for films with political and s ...

, written by

Joe Eszterhas József A. Eszterhás ( born November 23, 1944) is a Hungarian-American writer. He attended Ohio University. He wrote the screenplays for the films ''Flashdance'', '' Jagged Edge'', ''Basic Instinct'' and ''Showgirls''. His books include ''Americ ...

, and starring

Debra Winger Debra Lynn Wingerhttps://www.pressreader.com/usa/closer-weekly/20200511/282084868951188https://www.discountmags.com/magazine/closer-weekly-may-11-2020-digital/in-this-issue/99961 (born May 16, 1955)https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Inter ...

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 Staff Sergeant Bob Barnes in ''Platoon'' (1986). He is also known for playing Jake ...

. The plot is roughly based upon the terrorist activities of American neo-Nazi and

white supremacist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White s ...

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 (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

undercover To go "undercover" (that is, to go on an undercover operation) is to avoid detection by the object of one's observation, and especially to disguise one's own identity (or use an assumed identity) for the purposes of gaining the trust of an ind ...

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 (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

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, Katie is exposed to the fact that Gary is the leader of a Klan-like

white supremacy White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White s ...

group involved in heinous, often gut-wrenching, acts of racial violence. In too deep, Katie pleads with boss and mentor Michael Carnes to release her from the assignment, but he refuses, instead turning the screws on her mixed loyalties. Ultimately, she must betray either the man she loves or the country she has sworn to protect.

Cast

Production notes

The opening sequence is loosely based on the 1984 murder of Denver DJ

Alan Berg Alan Harrison Berg (January 18, 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 murdered b ...

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

Reception

Critical response

Sheila Benson Sheila Benson (December 4, 1930February 23, 2022) was an American journalist and film critic. She served as film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1981 to 1991. Early life and education Benson was born in New York City on December 4, 193 ...

in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' 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 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, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' 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". At

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American 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, and Stephen Wang ...

, ''Betrayed'' has a 38% "Rotten" rating based on 13 reviews.

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 1988 thriller films American 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