Charlotte Link: Die Betrogene

I almost didn't watch this movie because of the low rating. I looked at the reviews and they were mostly poor because of the comparison to the book by Charlotte Link. When poor ratings are due to book comparison I tend to ignore them, especially if I haven't read the book.

Very interesting plot and characters. With the exception of the children, the actors were very good.

This is the first German film I have seen. I prefer to watch international films in their language with English subtitles as I did this one.

I give it 8 out of 10 because it kept my interest and I enjoy twists and turns. If you like international crime shows you would like this one.

While the book has many psychological insights and interesting characters, this movie is full of cliches.

It's really bad how they presented "Kate Linville", the central character on the book, where she is a very shy and not so pretty woman, with a complex dependency relationship with her father. The movie version is a sad femme fatale.

I understand now why Charlotte Link doesn't like the movie adaptations of her works. Hopefully the series of books with "Kate Linville" will get a better treatment in the future.

I wasn't sure if I should see this and believe me you can have a much better time reading her books.

The story had potential, but there were way too many clichés and one dimensional characters - everything seemed forced and unbelievable.

Charlotte Link is a contemporary German writer, so I assumed I was going to be watching a German mystery, but it turns out the story is set in England. Between the dubbing and watching German speakers driving on the wrong side of the road it was painfully difficult to watch.

Why does a German production have to have so many foreign actors in it, all of whom have to be dubbed into the home language? OK, this episode seems to be set in the UK but why couldn't they have brought German actors over? I realise dubbing isn't an issue in Germany but it is for Brits and I don't like it.

It's unwatchable so I switched off about fifteen minutes in.

The movie doesn't do justice to the complex and thrilling book it's based upon. The plot is simplified and changed in many regards which reduces the dramatism. However, two things annoyed me the most.

1. The casting: Kate in the book is an insecure and unattractive young policist, while the actress portraying her is a very beautiful woman, only dressed in a baggy army-green coat. Caleb Hale in the book is a very attractive man, who draws the attention of many women, while here we have a middle aged grey haired guy with saggy skin. This makes it very unlikely that Kate would be infatuated with him, rather the other way around!

2. The dialogues are not recorded on set but voice-overed (why?!). This, together with the scene in the factory at the end of the movie (super cringeworthy, totally different than the great, dramatic ending of the book) gives the film an impression of a low-budget, plasticky production.

I couldn't believe a bad movie could be made from the story by Charlotte Link, but I was proven wrong.