Disappointment for a huge fan!

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

What a refreshing break from all the mindless noise of much of modern cinema this little-seen film is! You actually get to hear people TALK - perhaps too much, for some tastes, but when the dialogue is so expertly written (by Harold Pinter), why complain? The time-in-reverse gimmick puts an interesting spin on the usual love-triangle tale, plus it turns the movie into a great mathematical exercise (at each point you can calculate how many years Kingsley and Hodge have been married, at what stage the Irons-Hodge affair is, how old the kids are, etc.). In its frank and adult handling of marital infidelity and extra-marital affairs, "Betrayal" can be compared to a Claude Chabrol film. The direction is simple and naturalistic, never overshadowing the characters, who are excellently played by a fantastic trio of actors. However, if you're expecting a mind-blowing "revelation" at the end of the picture, you will not get it; the end is only the beginning of the story, after all. *** out of 4.

Emma (Patricia Hodges) is married with Robert (Ben Kingsley), who is the best friend of Jerry (Jeremy Irons), who is the lover of Emma. The originality of this romance is the way it is told to the viewer, backwards, from the present to the past. Although being theatrical, it is supported by an outstanding cast and is a good entertainment. Basically there is no soundtrack along this drama. My vote is seven.

Kingsley is masterful as Robert, the successful publisher, who puts in delectable perspective the fact that he is also a feckless and cuckolded husband. Patricia Hodge, a beautiful and talented British actress whose impressive body of works rarely make it to this side of the pond, is utterly perfect as the embodiment of Emma. Jeremy Irons is fine as well, although not quite as outstanding -- and that may say it all right there. The dialogue is pithy, ironic, sardonic, dry, brittle, and pointed -- vintage Pinter. But, the central plot device of starting at the latest point in time and have successive scenes show what came earlier, seems a bit forced and gimmicky -- although the excellence of Patricia Hodge's eyes in the final scene makes all of it worthwhile. Altogether, I'd rate it 7 of 10 -- certainly worth seeing.

This is a really fine movie with excellent characterizations. I've never seen Patricia Hodge in anything else but in this movie she's the equal of Irons and Kingsley. It's interesting how the movie starts with the very emotional end works it's way back to the innocuous beginnings.