This disturbing movie of Costa-Gavras reminds me about the closely named episode of the X-Files (5.18) in which Mulder like Debra goes undercover to dismantle a right wing militia (and it's also the proof that this show had really incredible quality !). In a way, Costa could be the European Spielberg as the two can tell strong, political story on the level of the common people and without any propaganda. Here, the militia members are totally crazy and criminal but if most of them are really devious, a few and the kids are just lost souls. The same can be said about the law enforcers : some does a clean work but others can't see that they push the limits and that they use Debra against her will. In that way, Debra is similar to Diane in « NYPD Blue » in which undercover mission is indeed a kamikaze one.What's frightening is that this movie is from the 80s. As seen in a sequence, it was a time when Internet wasn't there. You can see that the militia is using a rudimentary network with Amiga computers to chat together and it's also a computer printout that will be the trigger of the showdown. So you can imagine what happens now in those circles ! I got an hint with « American History X » but those kind of movies are rather not the kind of drama and cop movies nowadays. At last, it's also a 80s movie as the cast has also more talent than those today and it's a bit sad that we can't see anymore Debra or Tom Berenger now.

This movie is in the top 5 of my most favorite movies of all time! Not only was it very well choreographed it was also incredibly revealing! I remember so many of the mysterious events, as this movie has revealed, in a period of time when there were unsolved murders of black folks found in Rock Creek Park from 1980 through 1986. Many people would find these true events revealed by this movie unbelievable or too far fetched! We live in the melting pot and everyone has the freedom to think and feel the way they do! I'm a black man born and raised in these United States and can understand the plight of the white supremacist. You will believe in what you were taught and raised to believe but some have come to know that we are all related because we all were created from and by one GOD! It's truly an incredible movie!

"Betrayed" is top shelf entertainment, but it fails as great cinema. Director Costa-Gavras, writer Joe Eszterhas, and a fine cast create a meticulously shaped story with depth and multiple points-of-view. The film works on many levels. For example, contrasting romantic imagery of rural American against sterile bureaucratic offices is not subtle but it is effective. French cinematographer, Patrick Blossier, and editor Joële Van Effenterre bring subtly to the narration. For example, little side shots of a man lying in the bed of a pickup truck or umbrellas in rain define such icons as structural counterpoints to images of racial violence. Little touches give a sense of subtly to what is a heavy-handed story. This is pretend subtly. Mr. Eszterhas is an often-underrated screenwriter. With a great director, as in this film, the screenplay unfolds, as does his screenplay for "Basic Instinct" under Paul Verhoeven, but here it never quite feels authentic because it is not. How Costa-Gavras and Eszterhas create empathy for unappealing, bigoted people indicates the revolutionary material background for such violence. Not nihilistic but close to it, the film ends with a lovely affirmation of humanity. Alberta, Canada stands in for the Midwest of the United States as it did in the masterwork film "Days of Heaven." Playing that area in warm tone against Chicago in cold, blue tones is obvious but it works. The ability of the players, with casting by Mary Goldberg, deeply impresses me from child Rachel Valdez to John Heard, John Mahoney, and Betsy Blair in her last role and on to Debra Winger and Tom Berenger as the protagonists. Debra Winger as icon with relentless reaction shots feels the core of the film. Those reaction shots would work wonderfully in a more carefully constructed narrative. This political film feels like propaganda because it is. Deciding the point-of-view is easy on one level but the density of the narrative undermines one's sympathy. That works; but the heavy-handed and essentially unlikely story annihilates that strategy. Roger Ebert's intelligent review of this film makes sense. The storyline is not believable. Debra Winder's character somehow just does not make sense. The ambiguity is simply too fancifully conspiratorial. Yet, Ms. Winger's reaction shots carry the day. You sense something deeper underlying the tomfoolery. The ten is for Debra Winger and Tom Berenger who somehow redeem this work.

Federal agent Debra Winger goes undercover in rural Texas as a combine operator, infiltrating a group of down-home guys and their families in the hopes of linking them to white supremacy and the murder of a shock-talk radio host. Winger is romanced by the group's ringleader (Tom Berenger), and very quickly seems to cross many lines that aren't covered in the FBI trainee's manual. Berenger takes Winger to a KKK camp-out, to a human hunt (with a black man as the target) and to a bank robbery (to finance their cause), yet Debra's superiors actually request that she get more probing evidence! An exasperating movie, with facetious, halting dialogue leaving whole sequences feeling half-finished--and Winger's character without much personality. Director Costa-Gavras seems intent on underplaying this whole matter, to the point where even shocking moments come off as muted, matter-of-fact occurrences. **1/2 from ****