Betrayed Reviews

In BETRAYED political filmmaker Costa-Gavras (Z; MISSING) tackles an explosive subject--the frightening rise of white supremacist groups in America's heartland. The film opens with the assassination of a controversial Chicago radio personality (obviously modeled on murdered Denver on-air personality Alan Berg). Winger is an FBI agent sent to investigate the killing and to check on Berenger, a widower who lives with his mother (Blair) and his two small children. Berenger seems a nice-enough guy who hangs out at the local saloon with his fellow farmers--the fatherly Mahoney and the crazed Levine. Winger, pretending to be a traveling farmhand and combine operator, earns Berenger's trust and friendship and soon finds herself in the midst of a right-wing conspiracy plot. Blessed with some fine acting--Berenger and Winger play nicely together, and Mahoney is excellent--BETRAYED is a standard Hollywood thriller with a lot to say about racism, the American heartland, and the US government. Unfortunately the plot becomes so absurd and insipid that what promises to be a powerful experience rapidly deteriorates into a series of thriller cliches.