Betrayal of the Dove

Not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination. Some of the acting and dialogue are cringe-inducing. Still it's hard to hate a movie with Alan Thicke as the heavy, Harvey Korman, and Squiggy in it. Kelly Le Brock with a great Clara Bow flappadoodle haircut, plays the distaff heavy with Mr.Thicke and looks like she's halfway enjoying it.

This meanders along for about 90 minutes, then comes to a typical for the genre and era ending. If it wasn't for the vulgarity you could see something similar any day of the week on the Lifetime network.

There is one transcendent moment, Billy Zane's character gives a toast, ending with "Drink up." Without missing a beat, and with a delightfully goofy grin, Helen slater replies, "Going down, lingerie, David Lynch, Fellini." then immediately drops her wine glass. This made the slog worthwhile for me. Of course Kurt Cobain was jealous of me for a reason, I really am easily amused.

Oh my god, what a waste of time! I actually got through it, just because I'm stubborn.

It's about this separated Mom who is feeling threatened. Helen Slater is not at her acting best here. And Heather Lind, who plays her daughter is probably the worst and most annoying child actress I've ever had the displeasure to see.

Alan Thicke plays her baddie husband. He's the only good thing about this movie. He throws F bombs as well as Troy Aikman threw footballs.

The rest of cast was interesting. Harvey Korman from the Carol Burnett Show, David Lander who played Squiggy on Laverne and Shirley, Kelly LeBrock from Weird Science, and Billy Zane.

Anyway, back to the plot. Helen SLater is separated and has tonsillitis. She meets her surgeon Billy Zane and proceeds to start an affair with him. I'm sure the medical board would not approve. Well, one thing leads to another, Slater has visions of a crow, and blah blah blah.

The most appropriate way to end this movie was in the last minute my emergency warning came on to warn about flash floods and when it came back to the film it was playing the credits. So I have no idea how it ended. But frankly I didn't care.

I'd pass on this. It was stupid. The only reason I gave it a 2 was because I thought Alan Thicke was sexy and I loved his F bombs. No more Mr. Seaver there!!

A 'Lifer' Helen Slater fan, I recently took in a viewing of this for the first time in about 15 years. It's nowhere near as dreadfully bad as I remembered, but it's still not that great either. Of course none of this is in any way directed, I feel, at the Super star in question. It's all on account of the technicalities. For a "Hitchcockian" style thriller in the 1990s, it's a good, intriguing script. Young mother, with a child in tow, is at the center of a dangerously deceptive plot. Who and why are to be discovered as the story unfolds.

Just goes to show that pulling off Hitchcock in style, prose, writing, narrative, et al, isn't an easy task, and certainly one most directors, producers, and studios might figure to steer clear of permanently. That means from HERE ON IN. What may have looked terrific on paper hardly translated properly to the camera and screen. The editing is choppy, sloppy, clunky, and slow. Many tense moments were NOT had because of this. It's one thing to draw a good moment tense or otherwise, out with bypassing the option to implement punch ins, hand held camera takes, and other stylistic tropes with which this industry has become accustomed. Director Strathford Hamilton delivers confident shot compositions and an eerie delusional breakdown moment from the fabulous star, but fails to capture any tension with the story or any of the other cast members, save for Harvey Korman.

As another review mentioned, this is a laughably miscast roster. Slater and Korman are the only properly cast players, whilst Alan Thicke, Kelly LeBrock, and Billy Zane have the look and the potential, it's never reached. It's grinding teeth watching them, despite some moments with stamina and nuance. Still, even those moments are where we see this needed improvement, and could have been better with different casting and directing.

Another fail is the done-to-death suspense "bomb-under-the-table" approach. Another trope made most famously by that 'ol maestro, Hitchcock. Perhaps former actor-turned writer Robby Benson and his wife would have fared better with script doctors. Maybe the budget wouldn't cover it. In any case, the lack of tension and suspense ultimate tank what could have been a motion picture experience. The end titles read "Dolby Stereo in Selected Theaters". Really? Because I don't remember this being released theatrically. Wish it was, if only because Helen Slater (Toldja I was a long time fan) gets to have some fun with this role. Sadly, she and Harvey, who have great chemistry together, haven't anything to react off of, making this absolutely bland.

The film makes excellent use of betrayal, sure, but what of the viewers and the professionals who put much time into this project? It's sloppiness surely must have cost it a prime theatrical run. Lots of potential there and it's just a product, slid onto the Movie Time video shelves. That's the ultimate betrayal right there. We are the ultimate victim when we invest our own time and money into these films, with which we get nothing. Okay, that's not true. As I said, Helen Slater delivers a bright, focused, fully developed character and performance. BUT...in all consideration, 'Betrayal of the Dove' might just work better as an industrial reference to bad films. Maybe...

Young mother Helen Slater sets up home after divorcing her bad old husband, and falls for handsome doctor Billy Zane. However (there's always a however) she finds the new friends she's made are not quite what they seem. Someone wants to get to her, she doesn't know who it is. Yep, it's that type of movie.

Typical by-product of the "erotic thriller" craze of the early 1990's, this one watchable as most, but mainly plays out like a foul-mouthed Lifetime TV movie. If you want to see Helen Slater's bare boobs, this is the place to be. If you want to see former TV stars such as Harvey Korman, Alan Thicke, and David Lander make fools of themselves to get a paycheck to pay the bills, this IS the place to be! Speaking of Alan Thicke, he provides 90% of the profanity on here, playing against type as a dirt bag ex-husband conspiring to kill Helen Slater in order to get her share of a company she owns stock in. Yep, the plot is that dull and predictable. Robby Benson should stick to acting and throw the word processor in the garbage. Still, if you must watch this, it is worth a look just to listen to how many times Alan Thicke can say "F**K!".