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“The Betrayed” is painfully unconvincing, which is
a shame since it’s a cross between a psychological thriller
and a heist caper--inherently entertaining genres, if you
ask me. The story is built on a mystery that seems oddly
bland. ***
Maybe it has something to do with the characters, all
surprisingly flat considering the extreme circumstances
they find themselves in. A mystery requires more than a
clever structure for it to work; the actors must engage
the material, make us believe that they’re actually in the
middle of an extraordinary sequence of events. I never got
that feeling from anyone attached to “The Betrayed.” There
was no sense of urgency or desperation, but there was a
sense of apathy. They seemed monotone, as if they genuinely
had no interest in the screenplay. ***
It doesn’t help that the structure really wasn’t all
that clever. If anything, it was perfectly straightforward,
having virtually nothing for the audience to guess at along
the way. There isn’t even an attempt at a plot twist. While
I agree that some twists can be too over the top for their
own good, a surprise or two can be very satisfying. I don’t
know what writer/director Amanda Gusack was aiming for,
but it certainly wasn’t satisfaction. ***
How do I describe the plot of this movie without revealing
too much? A woman named Jamie Taylor (Melissa George) awakens
on the floor of a dank warehouse with dirty windows, rusty
pipes, and a showerhead affixed to the ceiling. Her ribs
are bruised. She’s in a drugged fog. The last she remembers,
she was driving to the airport to pick up her husband; she
was sideswiped, causing her to lose control of her car and
crash. ***
As she remembers this, a silhouette appears at the
chamber door. A man’s voice then comes through an intercom
system. “Where were you meeting your husband on Wednesday?”
he keeps asking her. She has no idea what he means by that;
all she’s concerned with are the whereabouts of her young
son, who was in the car with her when it crashed. *** Eventually,
the man opens the door and begins talking to Jamie in person.
His name is Alek (Oded Fehr), and he keeps his face hidden
from Jamie with a black hood, almost giving him the look
of a Mexican wrestler. He tells her that her husband isn’t
who he seems to be; he’s actually part of a crime syndicate
led by an elusive figure known as Falco, and he owes them
quite a bit of money. ***
Not true, says Jamie. She and Kevin have been married
for six years. They own a restaurant, and they just took
out a third mortgage to pay the bills. They don’t have the
kind of money Alek is talking about. Alek goes on to explain
that absolutely everything Jamie has known--the financial
struggles, the birth of their son, the going into business
for themselves--it has all been part of front for Kevin
to appear normal. ***
Alek also says that their house has been bugged the
entire time, and everything that was said within it has
been recorded. Knowing that gangsters of this caliber constantly
speak in code, Alek orders Jamie to listen to boxes of audiocassettes
and discover where and when the money was hidden. But she
must hurry; the life of her diabetic son, Michael (Connor
Christopher Levins), is on the line. ***
To describe any more of the plot would be too risky.
Needless to say, more is revealed about Kevin (Christian
Campbell), who we see almost exclusively in flashback sequences.
That’s part of the problem: How much of a threat can he
really be if we only have flashbacks to go by? There’s no
sense of conflict, and that’s because he isn’t there to
create any. That job is reserved for Alek, who seems so
detached that it’s very difficult to believe him, even when
he forces his thumb into Jamie’s bruise. ***
They gradually form an alliance of sorts, although
I’m hard pressed to say that I thought it plausible. Even
less plausible was George’s performance; never once did
I believe her as a desperate woman in a desperate situation.
She spouts words of love and concern for her son, although
her deadpan expression and lackluster attitude suggest otherwise.
***
The long and short of it is that “The Betrayed” is well-intentioned
but unsuccessful film. We go into it expecting to be thrilled,
and then we go out of it feeling very let down. It doesn’t
even work as a psychological drama, not even with a performance
from Donald Adams as Alek’s tightly wound right hand man.
***
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