Acts of Betrayal

ACTS OF BETRAYAL. 1997, Conquistador Entertainment. Maria Conchita Alonso, Matt McColm, Muse Watson, David Groh, Susan Lee Hoffman. Director: Jack Ersgard.

   If you were to ask, I’d say that as a rough guess maybe 80% of this 90 minute action film is exactly that: non-stop action. There are more bullets flying in this picture than in many small revolutions, and at the end there are only two people left standing: star corruption witness Eva Ramirez (Maria Conchita Alonso) and stalwart, straight-as-an arrow FBI agent Lance Cooper (Matt McColm), whose thankless job it is to get her before the investigating jury.

   Opposing them is a veritable army of thugs, soldiers of fortune, outlaws, bikers and miscellaneous gunmen, organized and fortified by two individuals (one man with a tall, strikingly beautiful female assistant) in a well-equipped communications van, complete with state-of-the-art computers and backup plans and mercenary forces far beyond anything Al Capone ever dreamed of.

   Did I say that agent Cooper is straight-laced? What I didn’t say is that the lady he is escorting is uninhibited, a non-stop talker, an incessant chatterer, often suggestively and R-rated, and of course, as they most often do, opposites attract. Eventually. I love it. And of course they save each others’ lives more than once.

Acts of Betrayal

   For the kind of movie this is, on a scale of one to five, I would give this one a five. The acting is far above average, the dialogue witty, and while realism has no basis in the story line, realism is not exactly what people who watch movies like this are watching for.

   For the kind of movie this also is, there is no scale from one to ten. I do concede that movies like this do not deserve a scale that goes that high.

   I’ve not been able to find this movie on DVD in English — only in Spanish, or as a beat-up former video rental. I guess you’ve have to explain the economics of movie-making to me. I’m sure this never played in theaters, only on cable. Even a cheap five dollar DVD would recoup some of the production costs, wouldn’t it?