Acts of Betrayal

"Acts of Betrayal", a typical B action flick, tells of a macho FBI agent (McColm) who spends the entire film killing bad guys as he protects a federal witness (Alonso) from a small army of hitmen. The film has little going for it but does manage some par or better firefights and a kinda-sorta fun relationship between the stalwart and silent agent and the always jabbering, ever sassy Alonso character. For action junkies only.

Talk about over acting, big laughs for this B flick!!

Cast of no-names with the exception of one time leading lady Maria Conchita Alonzo, who is by far stuck in the worst script of her career. The bank robbery scene is great, the dialogue, the constant "grunts and groans" from all the cast. It's just plain bad!!

As the movie begins, Eva Ramirez (former Miss Teen World Maria Conchita Alonso) is picked up by two federal agents who need her to appear in court to testify against her mob boss ex-husband. Unbeknown to the agents there's trouble afoot, and this conventionally routine task is made nearly impossible by a band of cumbersome misfits out to see that Miss Ramirez does not make her court date. They quickly finish off one of the agents, and spend the rest of the movie trying to get to Miss Ramirez. Much to their frustration, their plans are thwarted time and again by the second agent, the thrifty Lance Cooper (Matt McColm). This is an action film for action fans. This is the epitome of an action film, and doesn't pretend to be anything else. From credits to credits this is a bullet ballet (if I may borrow the catchy phrase from director Shinya Tsukamoto), almost relentlessly involving the protagonists in a chase, near death experience, or just an old-fashioned shootout. Matt McColm is great as a B-action star, and the comedy (attempted) of Miss Ramirez bounces of his stoic demeanor very effectively. It's not going to win an Oscar, but if you want to sit down to an action film, this would be a solid place to start. Rating: 28/40

For a woman on the run for her life, she sure is a big mouth. The film makers were trying to make this character funny, but instead, it was just annoying.

But hey, it's movie, you can make it as unrealistic as you wish...

The bad guys are all out to kill the government's star witness -- the defendant's wife -- before she can testify. Her protection? The usual (in these kinds of films) FBI agent pretending to be the dutiful automaton but not quite able to pull it off because he's human underneath it all. What sets this film apart is the sharp tongue-in-cheek writing (FBI agents are referred to as "Zimbalists", for instance) and above all, Maria Conchita Alonso's show stealing performance as the wisecracking, emotional lead. Yeah, she's lovely and sexy, but mostly she's a fine and underrated actress (check her out in the drama "Caught"). A highly entertaining film.