Genres

Visitors Review

2012-05-19 21:42:58

Fascinating

It is an absolute pleasure to see how highly rated this film is. When it was first released, "Betrayed" received strongly mixed reviews -- everyone praised the sterling performances but most critics found this story of white supremacists planning on starting a guerrila warfare against the U.S. government wildly implausible. Oh, how little they knew! Here we are, after Oklahoma City and Ruby Ridge, truly evaluating this film for its prophetic theme. Don't miss this one, folks. It's brilliant.

jc-osms 2012-05-19 12:52:15

Under the skin...

You have to admire Costa-Gavras for at least taking on touchy subjectsin his Hollywood movies - Nazi-collaboration war crimes in "Music Box"and the frustrating search for truth after the disappearance ofrelatives in world hot-spots in "Missing", but here he lets hispredilection for delivering a thriller compromise his intentions inexposing the barbarism and inhumanity of white supremacists whomasquerade under the guise of normality.After the brutal slaying of a controversial shock-jock after a typicalheated programme on the issue of race, we cut to an apparently innocentcountry-girl (Debra Winger), cutting the fields of a young,good-looking, recently widowed land-owner in the American south (TomBerenger) and her gradually inveigling herself into his family andaffections. Of course it turns out she's working undercover for theauthorities in attempting to bring to light the nefarious doings of aterrorising cell of ZOG, a right-wing racist group following a neo-Naziagenda (although without the attendant paraphernalia) stronglysuspected of the hit and of whom Berenger is the alleged leader.But what could have turned to be a still-relevant morality tale on thedangers posed by such monstrous people and how they can pass themselvesoff as ordinary average people in society, gets thrown off-kilter bytoo much focus on the moral dilemmas it puts onto Winger's characterand a propensity to deliver cheap supposedly end-of-your-seat thrillsin the best Hollywood tradition.Winger, irrationally you would think for a hardened agent, it seemsfalls in love and into bed with Berenger almost immediately and inshort order becomes his fiancée as well as the adored new mother toBerenger's cutesy kids and prospective daughter-in-law to hisprotective mother. From there she ingratiates herself into Berenger'sZOG organisation, undergoing a throughly disgusting initiationinvolving a night-time manhunt to brutally kill as sport, a youngterrified Negro and then taking on a Patty Hearst-type role in abank-job to fund the planned hit on a politician whose death willsupposedly foment racial tensions and presumably invoke a WASPuprising.Besides the last item there being hi-jacked from "The ManchurianCandidate", it's all just too improbable for words and falls under theweight of its own however well-intentioned pretensions. Winger's partrequires her to do little but simper when Berenger is nice to her andprotest when her boss keeps telling her to go back in to finish herjob. There's little she can do to make us think this honey-trapsituation could ever have happened in reality plus the love-interestbetween her and her boss only further distorts credibility. Berenger ishowever very good as the handsome country boy farmer with a dark sidebut again you could never imagine him opening himself up lock stock andbarrel to Winger's character so soon after his previous wife hadlearned about his other life and paid for it with her life.There are one or two thought-provoking scenes, besides the gruesomeman-hunt mentioned above, particularly the stomach-churning sceneswhere Berenger's infant children start spouting racial bile once Wingergets engaged to dad and the slightly more subtle encounter between herand a seeming nice-guy who nonetheless betrays his ignorance andbigotry the deeper they converse round the camp-fire of the Ku KluxClan brotherhood.By the time, however, we get to the inevitable conclusion with Wingerand Berenger in an armed stand-off and later again when Winger headsback out to Berenger's young daughter's school for what reason I can'timagine, the film has imploded under the weight of its ownsensationalism and conflicting aims.Like I said at the start, it was brave of the director to take on thissubject (and anyone who's since seen Louis Theroux's Weird Weekendencounter with a latter-day real-life group of American whitesupremacists at work rest and play will concur that people like this doexist) but the whole is just too far fetched and unbelievable to hangtogether as it should.

2012-05-16 08:32:33

Eszterhas wrote himself into a corner with this one

An FBI agent (Debra Winger) on her first undercover assignment finds herself falling in love with the man whom she has been assigned to watch (Tom Berenger), a man suspected of being a white supremacist and a murderer.Wow, this film is bad, but bad in a highly entertaining way. Written by Joe Eszterhas, the same writer who gave the film-going public such "classics" as "Jade" and "Showgirls", this film is overly-long, preachy and defies logic at every turn. Yes, of course a man would take his new girlfriend along on a murderous man-hunt after they've just met and then take her on vacation to a KKK camp. Isn't that normal? Actually, it wasn't the lapses in credibility that bothered me with this film. It was when he finally started to make sense that Eszterhas lost me. By essentially concluding that the problem of white supremacists is too big to ever completely stamp out, Eszterhas wrote himself into a corner, forcing the film to have a very weak and unsatisfying ending. In this case, Eszterhas should have paid heed to the vast number of war films that are out there. It might not be possible to show the winning of the war in a single movie, but if you show the winning of a single battle (which arguably he does, but not really), then people will go home happy.

smatysia 2012-05-15 16:47:55

A pretty decent thriller, in spite of the subject matter

A pretty decent thriller, in spite of the subject matter. Debra Winger issuch a good actress. Every time I see a one of her films, I am pleasedwithher range. I wonder what she's doing these days? She has has that beauty,yet a girl-next-door look. I can't imagine her character going back intothat nest of loons, though. Interesting how Berenger's character belongstothis white supremacist network yet has such contempt for the Nazi-loons.Worth a look, and a must-see for Winger fans.

derime 2012-05-07 01:57:50

Chilling movie about man's dualistic personality

I've seen Betrayed for three times now, and each time it just gets betterand better.Tom Berenger is excellent as Gary Simmons. He is perfect for the role, thatrequires in-depth understanding about love and hate. This man loves hisfamily dearly and is extremely loyal to things he believes to be justified,and at the same time he is capable of doing most savage deeds towards otherpeople he think are sub-human. Simmons is so cold and yet such a nice man atthe same time it makes my blood freeze in my veins.Also Debra Winger is great as Katie Phillips. She finds herself falling inlove with this man and then realizes that everything is not so perfect shethought it was. Her disappointment is almost palpable. I highly recommendthis movie to all, who wonder with amazement the dark sides of human nature.

2012-05-06 15:12:28

FBI misses chance

Hey it's really sweet where the fbi girl gets her chance to do that thing with the black guy but come on, really, if the sexes were turned wouldn't the agent be expected to do "something else" first?

sol 2012-05-06 08:28:41

My loyalties are all screwed up!

****SPOILERS**** Shocking disturbing but at the same time penetratingfilm by director Costa-Garvras about terror in Americas heartlandspilling over into the big city, Chicago. A popular but controversialJewish talk show host Sam Kraus, Richard Libertini, gets gunned down bya group of white separatists in the garage of his apartment buildingthe killers leave their calling card on the murder scene Z.O.G :Zionist occupied government. A phrase that the separatists use to referto the US government all throughout the movie. The FBI in trying to find and arrest those who perpetrated the crimesend agent Cathy Phillips/ Kathy Weaver, Debra Winger, undercover tothe farm land in the area where they think that the killers come from.Due to the very high anti-government sentiment there with farmers indanger of losing their land. It turns out that Agent Phillips shouldhave been the last person for the FBI to put on a case like that due toher very sad home and family life. Phillips lost her parents at a veryyoung age and had no family her entire life but her employer the FBIwhich was anything but loving and personal to her.In the farm land and being undercover as Cathy Weaver she falls in loveand lives with murder suspect Gary Simmons, Tom Berenger, and hisfamily. Simmons is a widower with children who's mother also lives withhim that has Cathy/Katie for the first time in her life have the familythat she always longed for. This very fact is what Cathy says is"Screwing up her loyalties" to the government and FBI that she worksfor.Cathy/Katie desperately wants to be taken off the case before shebetrays the man, Gary, as well as the family that she loves. Still theFBI refuses to do so because Cathy's in too deep and is too close tobreak the case on the Kraus killing.Gary is also very honest with Cathy/Katie by telling her about himselfand what he and his friends, the anti-government white separatists, areall about. Gary even takes Cathy/Katie out one night to a "Hunt" whereGary and his friends hunt down and murder a terrified young black manin the back woods. This makes Cathy/Katie feel terribly guilty sinceshe's not honest with Gary even though Gary is so brutally honest withher about himself.Debra Winger is phenomenal as the FBI undercover agent who's emotionsare stronger the her senses and is tortured in what she's doing bysetting up her lover as well as his family for the FBI. Even thoughhe's a murder and is planing with his friends to commit a major attackand assassination of a number of top government leaders. Tom Berengeris as good as he ever was as the all-America Vietnam war hero who comesacross as a cross between Gary Cooper and Jimmy Stewart that it's hardto believe that he not only believes the radical ideas that he openlytalks about but also practices them. Meanwhile with all this going onthere's a sinister sub-plot about an Illinois election that isconnected with Gary's group that goes totally unnoticed by the FBIuntil it's too late that Gary kept from Cathy/Katie which exploded atthe end of the film.Pre-dating April 19, 1995 Oklahoma City bombing by seven years and the9-11 terrorists attacks on New York City and Washington D.C by thirteen"Betrayed" is without a doubt one the best movie about terrorism on USsoil ever made and. It puzzles me why Costa-Garvras' "Betrayed" doesn'tget the attention that it should after those two terrible events.

2012-05-05 16:01:09

Marvelous

Betrayed is the best movie I've seen regarding this subject. The plot is suspensful. Though the movie is fiction, it seems very real to life. Toward the end of the movie I was on the edge of my seat.

dwpollar 2012-05-02 23:38:18

Engrossing drama about an undercover FBI agent...

1st watched 8/26/2007 - 8 out of 10(Dir-Costa-Gavras): Engrossing dramaabout an undercover FBI agent, played by Debra Winger, who is givenmore than she can handle as she tries to determine if a midwest farmer,played by Tom Berenger, is involved with the murder of a Chicago Jewishtalk show radio host. Winger provides a so-so performance with Berengerplaying his usual cute but deadly personality. What makes this moviework is the way that the director Costa-Gavras brings us this storylinealong at a matter-of-fact pace, almost like it's from themidwesterner's point of view instead of the way we, the audience, mightwant it presented. Slowly it's revealed that the family man farmer isnot only a bigot and racist, but is also a dangerous leader of anational organization bent on ridding the U.S. of anyone not like themand justifying it by the fact that they are taking from the averagewhite American. Winger's character becomes deeper and deeper involvedin the man's personal and criminal life to the point of contributing tosome of the crimes. The FBI won't let her off the case until someevidence is found against him towards the killing of thebefore-mentioned Jewish man and when they eventually find it, Winger isway over her head to the point of being engaged to the man. Sidestories about Winger's character's life along with Berenger's revealsthat they have both been hurt in the past and are looking for newrelationships to cement themselves into life again. This brings aboutfurther complications for both of them. Costa-Gavras always tries totake us new places in his movies and his done it successfully with thisone. He keeps your interest to the very end which is my mark for a gooddirector with good storytelling. Despite the fact that this moviewasn't highly acclaimed when it came out, in my opinion, it is not tobe missed.

2012-05-02 12:43:52

A Surprisingly Frank Look At RAHOWA

Let me first say I'm truly shocked that anyone ever made a film this raw in 1988 or any year.The plot: After the murder of a Jewish radio host in Chicago, FBI agent, Katy (Debra Winger) goes undercover with farmers to seduce widower and father of two, Gary (Tom Beringer). Katy forms a close bond with Gary and his family and even moves in with him. Gary is a suspect in the murder and Katy is trying to learn more about Gary's KKK terrorist group and their plan for future attacks.The title suggests this is the classic story of love vs. duty. Katy loves Gary but she is bound by duty to take him down.However this film is so much more. As some have already noted this is based on a true story of "The Brotherhood". A Nazi terrorist group that based itself on `The Turner Diaries' and indeed murdered a Jewish radio host and committed a high profile armored car robbery taking a record amount of money (which the FBI never recovered). The film is faithful even to their choice of firearms, Ingram Mac-10s which each member carries.`Betrayed' accurately depicts a family trip to a Klan rally where the children shoot at paper targets of black and Jew cartoons. This Klan camp is based on Elohim City, a Nazi training camp. (The same one Timothy McVeigh was later to attend.)They also refer to America as ZOG. Zionist Occupational Government.`Betrayed' is smart to make no real political statement. They tell the story, we decide.The production quality of `Betrayed ` is good with fine acting all around. Honorable mention is deserved by underrated actor John Heard who plays Katy's commander and suitor. In 1988 he was still thin.Surprisingly a film this smart was written by Joe Eszterhas. I'm amazed Eszterhas could form complete sentences but he really did his homework in accurately depicting RAHOWA.

tieman64 2012-05-02 05:16:17

Betrayed by Hollywood

A shock jockey radio host is murdered. The FBI believes a whitesupremacist group of Midwestern farmers to be responsible. Agent CathyWeaver, played by actress Debra Winger, is assigned to infiltrate thegang. She does so, and soon finds herself faking a love affair with TomBerenger, a Vietnam veteran, widower, farmer and leader of one of thewhite supremacist "terror" cells.The film's premise is interesting and appropriately disturbing, butlike most of director Costa Gavras' Hollywood films, can't maintain itshighs. On the plus side, the film plays some interesting moralitygames. Consider this: the film's racists are humanised and we'reinvited into their private lives and families, whilst the FBI are shownto be as isolated, narrow minded, compartmentalized and goal orientedas the white supremacists. The end result is that Gavras suggests thatthe country as a whole has arranged itself into hermetically sealedcompartments, arranged around class, politics, race, religion andethnicity, each section claiming absolute and exclusive humanity. Inother words, isolation and social alienation create attitudes ofinhospitality, racism and hatred. The Cathy Weaver character tries toresolve this by rejecting both the FBI and the white supremacists andby adopting Tom Berenger's children as her own. She essentiallyrepresents the healing balm of maternal love, teaching kindness andunderstanding to the kids of tomorrow.In terms of flaws, the film plays several scenes too heavily for shockvalue. This is the result of the notoriously crass screenwriter JoeEszterhas. Many of the film's far right leaning xenophobes are likewisebig caricatural lunatics and the film's high concept plot is at timesunrealistic.Some of the film's "shocks" nevertheless do work well, Gavras tamingEszterhas' sensationalism with subtle truths. Scenes in which parent'sindoctrinate their kids are creepy, the "holiday camp for whitesupremacists" sequence is haunting and the film's KKK rallies andmidnight hunting parties (guess what they're hunting) have visceraleffect. There's also something downright unsettling about little kidsmatter-of-factly saying the N word. The fact that many of the white supremacists are veterans who fought inVietnam, opens up some interesting avenues, linking state sanctioned,government approved racism with Berenger's group, who call themselvesZOG ("The Zionist Occupation Government"). ZOG fly under no politicalflag, but their political assassinations and ethnic cleansings haveidealistic overtones typical of various dark national "policies".Gavras draws numerous parallels between the FBI and ZOG's undergroundnetwork of cells and high tech "agents".7.9/10 – Some of the best moments in Gavras' filmography are in thisfilm, but one too heavily senses the soul sucking presence ofHollywood's and Joe Eszterhas' vampiric fangs. Gavras is striving for akind of nervous intimacy, whilst Eszterhas relies heavily on Hollywoodformula, his script taking interesting material in all the wrongdirections. Like many directors (Hal Ashby, Coppola, Altman, Hill,etc), Gavras struggled once the 80s hit.Worth one viewing.

feyz1979 2012-05-01 19:57:26

the good racist

Let's focus on the film from a different perspective.Despite the movie helps us to understand the circumstances lead toracism,it also represents "how a good racist should be". He should be afamily man,should reject Neo-Nazis' ideas when they are trying to sellhim guns in a camp by saying "my father fought against Nazis inWWII".thus showing a moral man Director leads to misunderstanding reluctantly with the character GarySimmons that appears to be a good man with all his faults grew up in anenvironment which makes him the leader of a terrorist organization.Still, it's a drama master-piece especially with final scenes

Robert J. Maxwell 2012-04-28 08:21:22

Snakes in the grass.

I generally find Costa-Gavras' works kind of hard to swallow because Igag on the pedagogy. Too many of his films are like Capra's "Why WeFight" propaganda movies from World War II. Here is the enemy. (It'salways a right-wing conspiracy.) See how evil he is? And see how naiveyou cretins in the audience are for not having realized it? My God,what a nag he is. I don't like being preached to even when the sermonmatches the prejudices I already hold.But this movie is an exception. For the first and perhaps the last timeon any stage, ladies and gentleman, the director shows us someambiguity in the characters.Yes, it's true. No doubt the evil on display is thoroughly rotten, thehome-grown variety of racists and terrorists along the lines of TimothyMcVeigh, the New World Order paranoids, the fluoride-in-the-waterloonies, and the survivalists who have moved off the grid into themountains of Idaho. But they're not that extreme. They're the salt ofthe earth. They go to church regularly, believe in God, treat theirwomen with respect, fall in love, form bonds with each other, havesuffered in the past, and have hope for the future. They just happen tohate blacks, Jews, commies, and fags, that's all. They're perfectlynormal except that they have these encapsulated brain tumors thatcontain attitudes instead of cancerous tissue. Debra Winger is an FBI agent assigned to infiltrate a community offarmers in the Midwest who may be up to no good. She thinks theassignment is a washout and she falls for the simple, God-fearing sonof the soil, Tom Berenger, who has a cuddly young daughter. Berengerfalls for her too and proposes marriage.But things begin to pop up that are a little disturbing. The littlegirl spontaneously spouts apocalyptic racist nonsense that she is tooyoung to understand. Berenger opens up to her little by little, takingher on a very strange hunt, a picnic involving happy campers with Uzis,and what is revealed isn't entirely congruous with Winger's picture ofBerenger as an uncomplicated farmer. Eventually, finally trusting her,he tells her about a plan to generate a general uprising byassassinating celebrities and committing mass murders in Harlem and SanFrancisco and "Sick-ago", as he calls it. Berenger and his friends arefull of an unfocused bitterness that the director leaves unexplained. So far, so Cost-Gavras. And here's where it's different. The directordevelops Tom Berenger as a fully fleshed-out character, and DebraWinger too. When she is finally forced to shoot him, it is because hehas found out her real identity and now he WANTS her to kill him.Suicide by FBI. His belief and trust in her is sufficiently profoundthat when it's shattered, there is really nothing left for him to livefor, not even his precious cause. And the same is true for Winger. Shehas no family because, "The FBI was my family." But they havemanipulated her ruthlessly and are unable to see any human dimensionsin what they consider just another operation that in the end is more orless successful. She plunks down her badge and gun and goes on whatappears to be a cross-country binge before pulling herself together andseeking out Berenger's daughter. Cost-Gavras as HUMANIST! Even the title is dual-faceted. Berenger's group of subversive farmershas betrayed its own country's ideals, but Winger has betrayed the manshe loves.At that, though, Costa-Gavras hasn't got quite a handle on thesubtleties of the political issues. He throws every liberal bete-noirinto the pot. A reactionary politician spews out the usual menu ofracist nonsense but can also be heard pimping nuclear power and soforth. If he read the message boards on Yahoo, Morningstar, or anywhereelse, he'd realize that no reactionaries are in favor of nuclear power.Nobody is FOR nuclear power. Some liberals are opposed to it, butpaleoconservatives argue in its favor only in contexts that willirritate the liberals. Well, let's not make too much of a littlebackground speech-making by a minor figure.This is a pretty good movie, in fact. The familiar parts of it -- thenaive investigator finally being wised up to fascist conpiracies -- ismore than compensated for by the added dimensionality of the two leads.But just to make sure you get the point, Costa-Gavras, perhaps feelingthat he's been speaking over our heads, plays a song under the endcredits -- "The Pistol in the Drawer is the Devil's Right Hand." Gotit? Good.

Bjorn 2012-04-27 22:36:41

Tom Berenger's own favorite

Debra Winger plays an FBI agent investigating the death of an obnoxiousradio talk show host, but he may have been killed by some whitesupremacist group. She goes undercover in America's heartland andbefriends farmer Tom Berenger, who may have had something to do withthe whole thing.Racism and political beliefs courtesy of Costa-Gavras. Many viewersfeel this film completely missed the mark on both accounts. I, on theother hand, have always enjoyed the film very much and think of itmostly as a drama piece, focusing mostly on Berenger's and Winger'srelationship. As a suspense flick it also delivers, with high tensionespecially during the climatic finale. Granted, some scenes are prettytough to take, but from my point of view this is an excellent study ofhow many "pure" white folks see the world. They're not depicted here ascomplete and utter monsters, but regular folks who have radicallydifferent worldview than most (I hope).On the trivia side, Berenger himself said in an interview that this washis favorite among all his films.

lost-in-limbo 2012-04-22 15:57:56

"The bad just pushes out the good."

After the brutal gun-down of a radio disc jockey, an FBI agent goesundercover in the search of white supremacists planning something big.But things get complicated when she falls in love with her target alongwith his children. A well meaning, if humid political drama, but itcomes across rather heavy-handed and convoluted in its message makingit far from entertaining to watch. Interesting, but only in parts andthere's a real bitter tone evident. However profound, multi-facetperformances by leads Debra Winger and Tom Berenger with a capablesupport cast; John Heard, Betsy Blair and John Mahoney keep itgrounded. After a simple set-up, it show its dark underbelly andtruthfully embraces it as our protagonist thinks she knows the man, butisn't really prepared and finds herself right in the deep end. Theoutrageous climax is baffling and some moments seem to lull during thefamily interactions, but these sequences are important to buildingcharacter and illustrating the unnerving nature of racism (like thecamp-out scenes)."Whose side are you on?"

2012-04-22 06:00:30

Anti-White Agitation propaganda

Oh Vomit!Quick Synopsis: Young White and up and coming FBI agent is assigned to penetrate "White Supremacist" organization so as to look for crime. She falls in love with Leader, with plenty of "we are all just regular White American" moments, right up till they turn out to be men who happily hunt negros for sport.The Irony is that the negro Nation of Islam was actually accused of this type of recruitment and terrorism in the book, "Zebra" by Howard, in which black Nation of Islam soldiers trying for "Death Angel" status murdered Whites in San Francisco in the 1970's. "Death Angel" status is reached when the proper number of Whites have been killed giving the Soldier the correct number of "points". Over 240 Whites have been killed by 1979, but only the FBI knows how many since then. More points are awarded for killing women or children. (Remember Black Panther Shabezz saying "You are going to have to kill Crackers, you are going to have to kill some cracker babies" last year?)."Betrayal" craps on every symbol of America you can imagine, White Grandmothers, White families (Every family has either an inbred brain damaged cousin or brother), along with the perfect scattering of magic negros. It paints every truck stop and Country dance hall as a hot bed of of murdering racist Whites. Ironic given the black "KnockOut King" game in Denver and "Beat Whitey Night" in Ohio and black Flash Mob attacks against Whites like the 2011 Wisconsin State Fair, where they were dragging Whites off motorcycles and out of their cars. A complete reversal of reality.

2012-04-20 05:58:43

Not a dull moment in this movie !

I am so glad that Leonard Malton's poor review didn't keep me from purchasing this movie. I loved it. It will keep you on the edge of your seat at all times. Although the subject matter is a difficult one, it is something that exists and I thought the movie did a good job of telling the story of a female FBI agent (Debra Winger) who infiltrates a white supremacist group to investigate a murder. It's too bad this movie didn't get better reviews by the critics. I found it to be better than most ! Excellent acting and directing, well worth it !

pennibelle 2012-04-19 18:34:36

What frightens me

What is scary is that the incidents that take place in this movie areALL true though the names are different. I live in the city where oneof the characters was affected. I do not want to give away the name orcircumstance just in case you have not had an opportunity to see themovie yet.Great movie though! Also, the hunting scene does exist. This isEXTREMELY TERRIFYING because it is true and still does happen. Even tothis day. A noteworthy news network did do a story on this. A few yearsago.Watch the movie and you will see what I'm referring to.

ikanboy 2012-04-15 16:07:25

Gavras shoulda stayed with European themes

This is an initially interesting film that turns sour 1/3 of the waythrough. Gavras wants us to see how an FBI mole, played by Winger, getscaught between bad guys who are outlaws, and bad guys who aregovernment agents. She infiltrates a white supremacy group, and wantsout when she decides they are harmless middle of America racists. Thenshe sleeps with the suspect and then she sees them murder a Black man.As we are 1/3 of the way through this should be the end of theinfiltration phase and beginning of the Trial phase. Nope! Head agent(John Heard) decides that as there is no body there is no evidence.Apparently the eyewitness account of an FBI agent; a missing Black male(who she could identify if given mug shots of any Black male missingfrom the area); gazillions of automatic weapons bullets in the area;blood everywhere, isn't enough for the FBI So back she goes to get moreinformation! We are supposed to empathize with her dilemma. All Iwanted to do was tell her to either get a moral compass, or grow someballs.The whole movie is overwrought tripe. Winger and Berenger are wasted toGavras' need to shove our nose into our own home grown racist fascism.I know the FBI aren't boy-scouts, but I think they draw the line athanging one of their own out to dry, and ignoring murder and Bankrobbery in order to pull in the bigger fish.Gavras grinds his favorite axes: the sickness of fascism, and thecorruption of the government. He gets the first one sorta right - howdifficult is it to show KKK types as dense morons - but he misses thesecond one by a mile. Government corruption is much more subtle,muchmore insidious than this sorry screen play can portray.

rbrtclntn 2012-04-15 03:37:23

Silly And Pointless

I find it interesting that so many people who are NOT from theheartland of America (and particularly so many not from America at all)have commented on the authenticity of the film. Having spent mychildhood in the heartland (Iowa), I don't recall having encounteredany racism (I suppose because there just weren't many black peoplearound). Also, I never even heard the word "zionist" until I moved tothe East Coast, and heard it used by a radical leftist group defendingsuicide bombers. This is not to say there's no truth to the film, as weare all aware of the existence of militia groups, but, as often happenswhen filmmakers are trying to make a point, and believe themselves tobe smarter than they are, they end up making a hysterical point (see"The Day After Tomorrow"). What people are crediting as the depth ofthe characters is actually an exposure of the shallowness of the film;Why is Tom Berenger a nice, hard working patriotic veteran who alsohates his country, hunts blacks for sport and robs banks? What gotthese farmers to this point? I don't ask because I care, but becausewithout that explanation, their actions are random and their characterscartoons. I suppose if the filmmakers don't care, neither should theviewers, so judge the film within that context, but don't give it anymore credit than it deserves. So what's the bottom line? Tom Berengerand John Heard are good, as usual, but Debra Winger's performancesuggests that of a woman who is no mental condition to do undercoverwork, and unfortunately, I don't think that's what the filmmakers wereaiming for. The film is well shot, but also slow, and, not to beat adead horse, but without any explanation for the goings on, pointless.It also comes off as smug, thanks to being made by people who have noknowledge or understanding of the culture they're portraying, whichmakes their lack of desire to explain it a blessing.