Waste of time

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I was going to rate this movie a 6, but at the last minute gave it an 8 instead, because I saw it for the first time on cable a week ago, and I can't stop thinking about it.there are definitely "plot holes you could drive a truck through," as they say. the biggest one is something other reviewers have noted. Debra Winger's character Katie/Cathy is forced to go back and continue her undercover work (pun intended) several times, even though there's PLENTY of information to convict all of these people on multiple charges many times over. I guess it's good to know the FBI is so scrupulous about the "righteousness of their busts" but seriously...!other people have mentioned the "night hunt" scene. I watch a lot of movies, horror movies especially, but I have to say that this was one of the only times I've ever literally watched a scene with my jaw hanging open. I got the impression that the crimes were supposed to "ramp up" somehow throughout the movie and get more and more serious, but the hunt scene was far more awful than anything that came after.the movie is beautifully filmed. one scene in particular caught my eye: it's early in the courtship of Gary and Katie, and they've just come back into his house through the front door, which is still open. they stand facing each other, the farmland beyond framed by the door, and the trees all blowing in the wind. I finally figured out that it reminded me of that great (and very windy) scene in "The Quiet Man" and borrowed by "ET" with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. I do not know if that was deliberate on the part of the filmmaker, but it was really pretty either way.

At least, when the closing credits appear, this song is uplifting and proves that Berenger's young daughter hasn't totally been brainwashed by the cult she lives among.Tom Berenger plays a heavy in this one where Deborah Winger, his new found girlfriend, is a federal agent penetrating a white supremacy group. He takes her to a variety of his crews exploits-mainly killing blacks and Jews.Periodically, Winger reports back to her superior and lover John Heard and is really in for a rude awakening at the picture's end when it is determined that she has been used for the agency's other purpose. This dynamic twist really adds to this decent film.

Something is rotten down on the farm, where FBI undercover agent Debra Winger discovers the man she loves (handsome, modest farmer and family man Tom Berenger) is actually part of an organized, nationwide white supremacist conspiracy intent on toppling the "Zionist occupied government and their n*gger police". It's all part of the latest topical thriller by old pro Costa-Gavras, who gives us a sometimes shallow but not entirely unbelievable reflection of the cancer lurking just below the spacious skies and amber waves of America's heartland. The script, by superstar hack Joe Eszterhas (plundering yet another fashionable current events headline), manipulates its audience with occasional brilliance, and yet the sheer emotional impact of such a hot-button topic is often enough to camouflage the film's many nagging deficiencies. Perhaps its weakest link is the leap of faith needed to accept the naiveté of Berenger, who after casually hiding his true character from a new girlfriend is suddenly trusting enough to invite her on 'hunting' trips, bank robberies, and KKK weekend retreats. Eszterhas plays all his cards too soon, going to great lengths to portray Berenger in three dimensions (not all of them warped), but then introducing most of his pals as garden variety, flag waving, right wing psychopaths. For all his repugnant race hatred Berenger is less a villain than a victim of his beliefs, and the white hats of Winger's FBI comrades are hardly spot free, leaving her stranded between her affection for a man she hates and her loyalty to an agency that uses her without conscience. The suspense is strongest when sharing Winger's moral revulsion and acute fear of exposure, and it's a measure of Costa-Gavras' skill that he manages to produce some edge-of-seat tension from an awkwardly structured and sometimes unbelievable screenplay.

I have watched this film several times. I usually avoid Costa-Gavras because he is left-wing and I have no truck with left wing ideals and socialist/commy doctrines. But, politics aside, this film is interesting plot and character-wise. I have read most of the comments from others on this and of course most of them are from left-wing liberals who rant on about racism and middle America etc etc. That was of course most predictable. The title of the film is "Betrayed". And this is what is interesting. How Debra Winger, masquerading as a farmer manages to betray the kindness of Tom Berenger towards her. Little by little she enters into his private life and he is taken in by her. And it is very painful for him when she reveals her real identity. The film is very entertaining and there is never a dull moment. True, there are some violent and unsavoury scenes but these are not overdone. I have great admiration for the character of Tom Berenger - very sensitive to Debra Winger and a man of traditional family values, standing up to anyone he does not agree with, including Klu Klux Klan members and Nazis. His character is actually quite complex and while the liberals will predictably denounce him as a racist, it's actually a little more complicated than this. This is a typical European left wing liberal view of Americans and should not be taken too seriously by the Americans themselves. Indeed the most Obnoxious character in the film is not Berenger but Katie's FBI boss, Michael. I was really hoping this man would die during the film but alas it was not to be so.He was a really evil character who was using Katie for his own ends. In addition the actor playing him really had a mean face !! My main interest then in the film is the love relationship between Katie and Gary Simmonds as well as the tune "the devil's right hand" which is actually the French title of the film.