Betrayal

This film was a surprise because I came across it on the Lifetime Movie Network and watched a few minutes to kill some time before another program began and found myself entertained. First of all, what rescues this from being standard direct to video fare is the direction of action film helmer Mark L. Lester. In addition, the cast which includes James Remar and Adam Baldwin, has some underrated talent in it. Most surprising of all is the dynamic between Julie Le Page as the hit woman with the lam and former "Baywatch" babe, Erika Eleniak as a single mother with her troubled teenage son on road trip to her mother's place in Texas. Julie hits all the right notes as the manipulative, sociopathic hit woman who regards the unwitting mother and son as ride over the state lines with a stash of a million dollars. The female characters are strong, Julie, physically and Eleniak as the mother fighting for her son's life and makes the film very compelling. The road movie through the desert crime caper is nothing new nor original ("Thelma and Louise," anyone) but the performance of the sexy Le Page and the twist of ruthless hit woman teamed up with single mom trying to do the right thing brings a very interesting dichotomy to what could have been an otherwise forgettable film.

"Lady Jayne:Killer" is a bottom of the barrel B-flick from the get go. You only have to scan the roster to see the personnel are a bunch of B-listers and maybe seeing ex-Playmate Eleniak get naked is the most one can hope for. Unfortunately, this lame flick doesn't even deliver a little gratuitous T&A as it limps along though its trite and cliche-ridden story about a beautiful hitwoman, a bunch of money, and a broke mom and son destined for a showdown. Pretty awful stuff not worth the time. (D+)

My litmus is can the movie or script exist without the bullets, and if the answer is "No!", then not much redeeming value can typically exist (unless it's done as a docu-drama of real events, and the bullets do need to represent the reality & ridiculousness of such). That said, if you are craven for the gun wanks, there's ample fuel for that here. A hot waif high profile escort hit woman and some decent plot set up delivered by ham fisted script & acting, the cheesy obligatory violence and 'action' is actually well placed enough...well placed enough so each time you realize what a waste of time this is, you are drawn back in. I caught this on a movie channel but missed the title in opening scene, lurched into watching when everything else on at 2am was infomercials when insomnia was winning. After the movie ended, I later was wondering who's paying to get that dog on TV? As we know, many movies are linked to the looming scandals that will not have as much cloaking & suppression influences once new political leadership is in place, so some of what's being aired is relevant to Epstein/Weinstein/Trump/Kushner money connections, but production and monetary records on this one very sketchy. It would appear our lead hottie in this is a royal contemporary of Ms Maxwell's, so whoever is selecting what flicks are dug out has an agenda. This isn't the worst movie ever made. But the difficulty in finding info on it also in part is it has low production qualities and mostly, you get the impression it was made by the Baywatch crew pumping out terrible shows weekly on a tight deadline...No! This thing was made in the digital age!! And in knowing this, yes, wow...very terrible flick indeed.

BETRAYAL is terrific little crime actioner, a Mark Lester job, that entertains from beginning to end. A lethal lady, played by sexy Parisian actress Julie Du Page, is on the run with a million bucks of mob money. Several people, including a police detective played by Adam Baldwin of SERENITY fame, are hot on her trail. She ends up in the company of a mom (the luscious Erica Eleniak) and her teenage son (Jeremy Lelliott), and all hell breaks loose when the son finds the money. Plenty of people die, there are some car chases, and the ending features a decent cat fight between the two Eleniak and Du Page. I am with those who think Eleniak deserves better roles than she normally gets, but better she is working than not at all. "B" movie stalwart James Remar plays an FBI agent who hooks up with Eleniak, although he is given little to do. The focus is on the two extremely beautiful women, which was fine with me. Du Page has a shower scene, guys.

As thrillers go, there are a few surprises here. For awhile the film seems as though it might go in an interesting unexpected direction before it heads back into standard thriller mode. Had the main protagonists been male, the story would have been too obvious. Putting women in the "tough guy" leads made a nice variation. Still, you cannot expect too much. Once the final chase starts, it's all more or less by the numbers.

The music tries very hard to add tension where there isn't any. The pacing tends towards slow. The story has more than enough holes in it. The acting is okay, but not inspiring. With almost no nudity and no steamy love story it is definitely not an "erotic thriller". The entire production value is equal to the average cable channel movie of the week.

Neither it's theatrical title (Betrayal) or it's DVD title (Lady Jayne: Killer) really fit. It's not a bad film, but I couldn't recommend it. Still, I spent 90 minutes watching it, maybe you'd like to do the same.