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DVD review: The Betrayed

The Betrayed - Out now on DVD

After a serious car accident, wife and mother, Jamie Taylor (Melissa George), wakes up a warehouse with broken ribs and the realization that she has been kidnapped. Her masked captor informs her that her husband, Kevin (Christian Campbell), is not who he seems and is actually a brutal killer who recently stole millions of dollars from his bosses – and they want it back. After probing Jamie for information about where the money and her husband is, they realize that she had no clue who her husband really is, nor does she know where he has stashed the stolen money. The masked kidnappers come to the conclusion that while Jamie knows nothing of the money or her husband of six years’ background, she has the means to find out. With her diabetic son’s life on the line and her relationship with her husband in shambles, Jamie must decide who to trust and attempt to decode her husband’s life in order to save her family.

 

Melissa George actually turns in a pretty solid performance as the strong female heroine in this direct-to-DVD thriller and is probably the main reason The Betrayed was somewhat enjoyable. Director Amanda Gusack (The Anniversary, In Memorium) spends most of the film in the small, poorly lit room in which Jamie is held captive and it creates a good psychological element. Probably the best way to describe how this movie plays out is that it’s similar to Reservoir Dogs, not in quality, but in the fact that it all mostly takes place in one location and the plot is unraveled heavily via flashbacks.

 

The Betrayed is one of the better direct-to-DVD movies I have seen but is not without some problems. While George puts on a good show as the main protagonist, I found her relationship with her husband, played by Christian Campbell, to be a bit flat. I cared a lot about her getting her 6 year old son back, but when it came to Jamie and her husband Kevin, I found I didn’t necessarily care about their relationship as much as I did about just what this guy’s past really was. This is a problem because a lot of the plot is trying to rely on the fact that Jamie is in love with this man, but now finds out he may be a cold-blooded killer and thief. There were also a few cliché action moments towards the end of the film that didn’t work, such as the infamous count-down clock that seems to run at half of real time, and the predictable shoot-out finale that caps the film off; I would have liked to see Gusack stick the more psychological aspect instead of pandering to the classic action crescendo.

 

I can give The Betrayed an extremely mild recommendation in that if you are looking for something off the main-stream, blockbuster-beaten path this summer this movie is a solid entry onto the direct-to-DVD shelf. You’ll see why this film never made it to the theaters once you watch it, but part of me wishes it had. It would have been nice to see a movie released that features a decent female hero instead of the recent barrage of mindless wedding, shopping, and desperate-woman movies that have been hitting theaters.

 

The Betrayed was released on DVD last week and is available now over at Amazon..