Search - The Betrayed on DVD

Implausible crime drama/thriller

z hayes | TX | 07/03/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Most of this movie is shot in a dingy room in a warehouse someplace, and centers on Melissa George's character being imprisoned in said room, completely at the mercy of her captors. The story begins when Jamie Taylor [Melissa George] and her young son Michael are pulled out of their car after an accident and promptly imprisoned in a warehouse. Jamie is roughed up and her captor Alec [Oded Fehr] tells her that her husband is not who she thinks he is, but an assassin who is on the run from a crime syndicate after having stolen mob money totalling about 40 million dollars. When Jamie refuses to believe her captor, her son Michael, who is also diabetic is used as a pawn - if Jamie refuses to comply, Michael will be killed.

Given a short period of time, Jamie has to rack her brain and utilize whatever clues she is given to piece together the answer to the question: where is the money? Her husband is nowhere to be found and Jamie has to rely on herself to get her and her son out of danger.

The movie itself plays out mainly as a series of dialogue-driven scenes [interspersed with the requisite violent scenes] between Jamie, her son and their captors. There's the enigmatic Alec who keeps himself masked for most of the film, the pervert peeping tom captor who lusts after Jamie, and several others. This is not a unique movie in the genre - those familiar with this genre will find other better movies out there with similar plot lines.I also did not like the scenes of violence involving the kid - not gory or over the top, but manipulative nevertheless.

The one thing I liked about this movie [hence the 3*] was the credible character development of Jamie {Melissa George} and Alec [Oded Fehr]. These two share a certain chemistry, not really sexual, but something more that is well-developed as the movie progresses. It is the only reason worth watching this movie. Otherwise this is a standard, uninspired crime drama that offers nothing new. A rental at best."