DVD/Movie Review: The Betrayed

 

The Betrayed is a 2008 thriller directed by Amanda Gusack starring Melissa George (probably best known for her role in the series Alias), Oded Fehr (probably best known for his role in the first two Mummy movies and several of the Resident Evil movies), Connor Christopher, Christian Campbell, Alice Krige, and Donald Adams. The movie begins at the scene of what appears to be a hit-and-run car accident, but the driver of the car that was hit is nowhere to be found. Then, we see a woman named Jamie (George) who has been kidnapped and is being held in a warehouse by a masked stranger (Fehr) who is asking for information about her husband (Campbell). Jamie finds out that she and her son, Michael,  are being held by members of a crime syndicate who claim that her husband, who Jamie believes is the owner of an Italian restaurant, has stolen forty million dollars from them. She is told that she and her son will be released if she helps track down the money. 

The DVD is a very bare-bones release. There is no bonus content specific to the movie. The only extras are a series of trailers that play before the disc menu loads. While the movie is not quite an independent film, it definitely had a lower budget and is not an action-packed blockbuster with an A-list cast. That said, it is a well-written and acted thriller. George and Fehr, who have mostly had supporting roles in their careers, are excellent as the leads. While the movie has a little bit of action, mostly at the end, it is mainly a suspense thriller set in a single location for the vast majority of the time. The run time comes in at just under 90 minutes. The story is compact and does not ever seem to lag. Ultimately, it is a decent to good B-level drama/suspense thriller that is worth watching.

DVD/TV Series Review: Hunted

 

Hunted is a 2012 series starring Australian Actress Melissa George, who is probably best known (at least in the US) for her role in the series Alias from 2003-2004. The series is short, with just eight episodes on two discs. 

In the series, George plays Samantha (Sam) Hunter, who is a spy for a private espionage firm named Byzantium. While on a mission in Tangiers she is attacked and shot. Believing that she was set up by someone in Byzantium, she goes off the radar for a year she returns to the agency determined to figure out who set her up. She is also tasked with a new mission to go undercover as the nanny/tutor of the son of a former high-level criminal who is bidding on a Dam in Pakistan. 

For those who get the DVD set, it is just a MOD set with the episodes only. There are no extras or bonus material. The show has a good mix of action and suspense, with some twists and turns along the way. Because it got canceled pretty early into its run, not everything gets wrapped up in a nice bow by the end. Although, it does not end on a major cliffhanger either. There is brief nudity in the first episode, but after that, there is not a ton of sexual content (especially for a series that ran on Cinemax). George does a good job as the series lead and the show has a good supporting cast including Adam Raymer and Stephen Dillane. 

The series is good but was really never given a chance to find its footing. So the fact that it ends with a lot of open and unresolved questions may prevent some people from really enjoying it. There were rumors in the years after the show was canceled about a season two or a movie to at the very least bring back the character of Sam, but those never came to fruition. So just be aware, if you watch this, that the series just kind of ends without much of a payoff.