Betrayed: A Story of Three Women (1995 TV Movie) User Reviews

An Enjoyable Piece of Light Froth

[gary-444 · 7/10 · 20 June 2008]

Sometimes you have to approach a story in the spirit it is offered. This film makes no grand claims, and although it purports to be about three women, it is actually about two,Amanda Nelson,played by Meredith Baxter and Joan Bixler, played by Swoosie Kurtz.At 106 minutes the running time is a quarter of an hour longer than the classic 90 which permits plot anomalies in the interests of pace. Nonetheless the double hander that the two women frequently play works.

Amanda's stereotypical upper middle class world and family is an unambitious setting, understandably she is not impressed when her best friend, Joan's, daughter beds her husband.However there is a chemistry and dynamic which works between the two of them "Cagney and Lacey" style.The third woman, Joan's daughter Dana, has a curiously underwritten part much of which i suspect was left on the cutting room floor. Amanda's two sons have some cleverly written cameo roles and the erring husband Paul Nelson has almost a walk on part.

So what makes this film work? Its not about marital infidelity, it is about the loyalty between two women as friends.the message that friendship is important and that sometimes people let you down resonates throughout the tale.There are some fairly corny set pieces, but the film always lifts when Amanda and Joan are on screen together. there is even an elegiac moment in the "kitchen scene" at the end when Joan implores Amanda to discard the hopes and dreams of the past for the reality of today.Too few films these days are narrative driven,and this deserves praise for a solid effort in that regard.

What?

[tingski · 6/10 · 6 May 2022]

Someone uploaded this on YouTube and i watched it recently. I stayed on it because i was curious to see Swoozie & Meredith. Decently acted but I don't believe you can go back to the way it was - your husband had an affair with your best friend's daughter, for crying out loud! It ended with the two friends continuing with their planned trip to Europe.

What?? Meredith Baxter having marital troubles?? Who'd have guessed??

[caa821 · 5/10 · 29 October 2006]

Does anyone else wonder why some psychiatrist or clinical psychologist hasn't written a book entitled:

•••"A View of All the Problems Women Can Experience and Endure - from Marital Infidelity, to Being Menaced by Psycopaths, Along With Every Conceivalble Type of Problem Imaginable In-Between - as Depicted by Made-for-Television Movies Starring Meredith Baxter" ???????•••

In this movie, Meredith is blind-sided by the fact that her best friend's daughter has been having a protracted affair with her husband (she works for his law firm).

The husband, portrayed by John Terry, may not be the least-sympathetic, as well as completely "dull" character in the history of this genre (or any other, for that matter) - but he certainly is a contender.

Swoosie Kurtz's daughter (Swoosie is the inevitable "best friend") is also wholly-unsympathetic, and presents no qualities whatever which would make one like or care about her in the least.

It's also difficult to care much about Birney's character, and Swoosie Kurtz is the only one, whose widowed-mother-of-the-adulterous-daughter, and best-friend-of-the-betrayed-wife is remotely "realistic" and completely sympathetic in this Lifetime extravaganza.

As in most of the movies, the women have varying amounts of strength (even the daughter has a modicum), but the male characters schlep around like Woody Allen on downers. But at least Woody's characters are intended to be as he presents them, and are engaging.

Predictable but fun — and men ARE like that!

[mgconlan-1 · 7/10 · 25 January 2006]

Though "Betrayed: A Story of Three Women" has its faults — it's VERY much to the Lifetime formula (just read the synopsis in TV Guide and you could practically write the script yourself), starting with a hot soft-core porn scene between the illicit lovers and at times getting so melodramatic I wondered if I should turn it off and watch something a little more understated, like "Il Trovatore" — I'm posting here because I really resent some of the sexist attacks on the movie. I'm a man and men ARE like the philandering husband in the movie, or at least enough men are to make the broad outlines of the story believable. (And if you'll look at the credits again you'll notice that the director and writer were both male.) I liked the film — it wasn't a world-beater and I found the ending WAY too optimistic, but it was well-crafted and did what it set out to do. Also, decent roles for middle-aged actresses are rare enough one can see why Meredith Baxter and Swooosie Kurtz wanted to do this one; they tore into their cat-fight scenes like starving tigers descending on a piece of raw meat.

Good premise but....

[triple8 · 4/10 · 24 July 2005]

SPOILERS THROUGH WHOLE POST:

I do think lifetime has some good movies but this was not one of the better ones. I actually thought it was OK to start but the movie loses it's way quickly and character development is lost in a sea of arguments, cat fights and people breaking ties with each other only to make up later.

There were certain scenes that I really could have done without seeing, the grocery scene in particular. The most likable character is the wife who is cheated on(can't remember names at the moment) but it seems like everyone is against her from hubby to best friend to best friend's daughter and these people come across as dislikeable for much of the movie and the plot is not helped by the fact that instead of character development, snippy fights occur including the above mentioned grocery bag scene which really did almost cause me to turn the movie off mid stream.

It is implied at the end, that the couple get back together but their relationship isn't developed all that much and it sure doesn't seem like he has to work to hard to get her to take him back. The feelings of the children involved, likewise are glossed over a lot as well.

This wasn't the worst but it could have been better. My vote's 4 of 10.

Quite slow

[nightroses · 3/10 · 23 May 2022]

This isn't one of the best 90's lifetime films. It's annoying as well as frustrating and silly. The man having an affair is punished by being made to stay at a hotel, while the spurned wife assaults her best friend all because she knew about it and was worried abut telling her. The characters are all dull. While she quickly makes up with her cheating husband she is still angry towards her friend. I wondered when it was going to finish.

Swoosie Kurtz and Meredith Baxter save the movie

[MarieGabrielle · 8/10 · 7 March 2006]

and yes, there is a great cat-fight scene wherein they have it out at the local supermarket. Clare Carey is the other, younger woman.

Yes, a common story that ends up better than real life...John Terry is an attorney who has an affair (if we check for this theme on IMDb there would probably be 300 more movies made this year with the same theme). Still, there is a sub-plot with Kurtz and Baxter, and they manage to pull it off.

Swoosie Kurt is underrated as an actress. She is always believable, and never appears shrill or fabricated, which is more than can be said for standard television fare. Just look at media hype like Jessica Simpson or Paris Hilton, to see what an actor is NOT. However, I digress.

If you enjoyed films like Adrian Lyne's "Unfaithful", think of this as an amusing TV version. The performances are decent, John Terry and Nicholas Pryor are also good, and the sub-plot about Baxter's husband not living up to her standards is realistic, while Kurtz tries to repair their damaged friendship.

Meredith Baxter lends a realism to the story, and I would certainly hope to see Kurtz and Baxter in similar TV movies. 8/10

Just another "anti-men" flick on the "anti-men" network

[GREEKW0LF · 5/10 · 29 April 2005]

Well, what can you say? Betrayed: A Story of Three Women is about as prototypical of a Lifetime movie as you could possibly expect. I'll try my best not to spoil all the details... but honestly, does it really matter? All of these story lines are essentially the same. Here's the scenario - an attractive middle-aged housewife has the perfect life... she's married to a wealthy, attractive and successful businessman, has two wonderful children and lives in a huge house in the middle of an upscale neighborhood. What else could you possibly ask for, right? Well, her perfect lifestyle comes to a screeching halt when she finds out that her husband is sleeping with her best friend's 20 year old daughter, who's home from college. And really, that's all the plot you need. Light the torches and start beating the war drums, because it's man-bashing time!

I'm not sure how many Lifetime masterpieces I've watched over the years, but I think it's safe to say that I can count the number of times ( on one finger ) where the doting housewife is actually the culprit and not the victim. More often that not, instead of heart-warming, positive films about love and relationships, we're always treated to the deepest, darkest fears of every American woman - her husband/boyfriend/uncle/brother/"insert your own male presence here" is a slime ball of the highest degree. Obviously, this is what women want to see, or else the network wouldn't keep churning this garbage out on a weekly basis. It's pathetic, really... and sad. In the movie, one of the characters points out that middle-aged husbands sleeping around with college girls, and best friends punching each other out at the supermarket is, "completely normal.. and just a part of every day life." Sorry, hon.. maybe it's considered normal behavior in Orange County, California but not where I reside.

The only people I could recommend this film to, are angry lesbians or desperate housewives who want to spend an afternoon sulking around the house and reconfirming their belief that men are scum.

I loved this movie!

[baby-59 · 10/10 · 30 September 2005]

I thought Meredith Baxter Birney and Swoosie Kurz were great, as well as the other actors.It is a story about two old friends and one of them has a daughter who is having an affair with the other friend's husband. A serious, but very funny scene in the parking lot after Meredith finds out about the affair between her friend's daughter and her husband. She's wheeling her grocery cart full of groceries to her car,when Swoosie spots her and wants to talk with her and resolve the situation. Swoosie takes and holds Meredith's groceries to get her attention. Meredith then tried to grab them back from her and they crash all over the ground. You have to watch it to appreciate the humor. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and it's too bad the other people commenting didn't rate the movie very highly, but they have a right to their opinion, of course. I think it deserves a much higher rating then they gave it And it's odd that one would actually watch it again when they didn't care for the movie. The movie had some very humorous moment considering the seriousness of it. I personally thought it was a very good movie.

What the.....???

[PaigeSG1 · 14 March 2002]

As usual, I was flipping thru the channels and came across this movie. I started watching it, and being on Lifetime, I was ready with my toilet paper roll I use as kleenex.

So the movie progressed and it was getting more stupid by the minute. Meredith Baxter and Swoosie Kurtz's rolls started out to be really crappy, but when "the affair" is revealed they're at eachother's throats like some cat fight from Dynasty.

The entire movie sucked. That I know for a fact. The love story in the middle was just like watching a Carrot Top commercial, only more sickening. I was waiting for a house to be set on fire by one of the other family members. THAT would've been interesting.

Joan Bixler's, played by Swoosie Kurtz, daughter Dana (played by Clare Carrey) gets "REALLY CLOSE" to Amanda Nelson's (played by Meredith Baxter) husband Rob (played by John Terry). The movie is predictable and still crappy.

Yes, I will probably watch this movie again, but only because it's that bad and laughable. I don't know why this movie was even made, and it certainly didn't help any of the actors and actresses careers after this. Even with its predictability, there was no saving this movie. It went from "WHAT THE *** WERE THEY THINKING?" to "OH MY GOD! WHAT THE **** WAS I THINKING IN WATCHING THIS?" ...It's such a shame this movie was that bad. Then again, it was on Lifetime.

You can still watch this for yourself and for your own opinion, but you were warned! You might want to bring a bucket just in case.

Husband cheats, wife will probably take him back

[Daidria · 1 April 2004]

Okay, I usually love the movies on Lifetime because they are heartwarming and emotional. This movie was neither.

A husband cheats on his wife with her best friend's daughter. Drama ensues. The best friends are at each other's throats. The acting is pretty bland throughout the entire movie.

The main problem with this movie is that it alludes that the wife will probably end up taking the husband back. WHAT??? Never, not in this lifetime (pun intended) do you take a man back who cheats. It made the wife seem desperate and pathetic.

I didn't feel anything for any of the characters in this film. They all could have died in a massive fire and it wouldn't have mattered to me.

Also, the ending of this movie was so terribly stupid I just couldn't believe it. One of the worst films I have ever seen.