Betrayed

Max Garrett (Stephen Baldwin) is a cop on a seriously thin rope. Garrett returns from a six month suspension t0 robbery / homicide only to get involved in a homicide case involving a sexy artist (Kirsty Swanson), who may be more than just an innocent witness. Garrett uncovers kinkiness that may well put his life and family in danger.

"Bound by Lies" is a simple straight-to-video police thriller. Full of clichés and C-list stars. Not to bad, about the equivalent of a film you see on late night cable. Good looking stars sprinkled with a little smut with a better than usual polished look to it. The plot is standard and the acting is fair but at least the original Buffy is in it.

After a suspension of six months for disrespect to the chain of command in the police force, detective Max Garrett (Stephen Baldwin) is assigned to work with Lieutenant Eddie Fulton (Charles Malik Whitfield) in a murder case in another precinct. Both have the mission of protecting the photographer Laura Cross (Kristy Swanson) from the prime suspect of the crime, the super Gus Boyle (Kevin Chamberlin). Max is having troubles in his marriage with his wife Diana (Gladys Jimenez), who misses him, and the proximity with the gorgeous and seductive Laura is deeply affecting him.

"Betrayed" is a clear rip-off of Ridley Scott's underrated masterpiece "Someone to Watch Over Me" (1987). In both movies, there is a married detective assigned to protect a beautiful woman and falling for her. Even the situation where the wife is kidnapped by the criminal is identical. The character Max Garret is awfully developed by the weak Stephen Baldwin, and in the end worth to watch this movie only because of the beauty of thirty-nine years old Kristy Swanson, the original Buffy and the teenager Samantha of the unforgettable "Deadly Friend" and still extremely beautiful. It also calls the attention the number of different worldwide titles this forgettable movie has ("Betrayed", "Bound by Lies", "The Long Dark Kiss", "Os Mistérios de Laura Cross" ). My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Os Mistérios de Laura Cross" ("The Mysteries of Laura Cross")

There are two classes of people who will love this film - Stephen Baldwin fans and Gladys Jimenez fans. All others are bound to be bored.

Baldwin plays a cop (Max Garrett) who is dangerously close to being kicked out. He is assigned to watch Laura (Kristy Swanson) and protect her from a crazed killer. You'll know who the killer is in the first five minutes, so there are only two questions to be answered: will the killer get Laura, and will Baldwin get Swanson, who continues to remain nudity-free after 55 films.

Well, there is a third question that begs to be answered: why the heck would Garrett want Swanson when he has Gladys Jimenez at home? She has no problems showing us what made her famous in films like Blowback and Secrets of a Chambermaid. She gave that up to become a soap star, but we get another view in this film.

We know that Garrett is not gay like we suspect Dr. Doolittle is, but he certainly has his priorities crossed. Get home, jerk, Jimenez is waiting!

What is acting? Will you find it here? Is it too harsh judging the people involved in this, because of the script/direction? Are any of the twists worth your while? The answers to those question can only be given by yourself. And while the Baldwin involved in this, has made a name in movies like this, the question is, if you have the time and strength to watch this.

It's not that the characters are despicable from the get go. But while the movie progresses and relationships get established you do wonder, why you're still watching this. Now if you meant to watch this, because it promises sizzling erotic and/or nudity, you can also forget about that. While the main actress might appeal to many (men and women respectively), her character is all over the place and does not help the viewer understand what the other characters are going through because of her ... Not recommendable ...

I just saw a copy of this movie and it was awful. Nice camera work and clean edits made for a vast comparison with the weak plot and horrible acting by these b-movie stars. The only thing one could hope for is to see Kristy Swanson get naked, which she didn't even do (three years after her Playboy shoot she has packed on a few more pounds which is probably the reason!)

To even think of this movie as a thriller is impossible: the focus is more on the Baldwin and Swanson characters rather than developing a true thriller plot of who is killing all these people.

Overall don't waste two hours of your time, life is far too valuable.