Love and Treason (2001 TV Movie) User Reviews

Bland and Predictable

[Uriah43 · 4/10 · 28 September 2014]

"Lieutenant Kate Timmons" (Kim Delaney) is a Navy Intelligence Officer who finds her career seriously compromised when her husband "Eli Dixon" (David Keith) is apprehended stealing top-secret material to sell to the Soviet Union. Based on her testimony he is then sent to prison while she is reassigned to meaningless duty positions since few people within her chain-of-command are inclined to trust her any more. Unfortunately for her, after 3 years her husband escapes from Fort Leavenworth and her life is suddenly put in jeopardy in the process. Anyway, rather than reveal any more of the movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that this was a rather typical made-for-television movie which could have been better if it hadn't been so bland and predictable. Even so, Kim Delaney put in a decent performance in spite of the inherent limitations of a film of this type and for that reason I rate it as only slightly below average.

And if Kim wasn't there ? (tv)

[leplatypus · 4/10 · 3 April 2016]

it would have been the big nothing as it's already a real stinker with her! What's original with US is that they can make movies about military as easily as cows make milk ! In France, this big mute stays preciously concealed while over there, it's so everywhere we can wonder if the country is still a democracy or under martial law ! Kim plays a Navy intelligence agent who has badly married with a traitor ! I still don't have understood why he wants her back in his escape but this is the story ! There's really nothing interesting : Kim was great as an action and intelligence woman and it was cool to see her in a lot of different outfits, unlike « NYPD » Diane Russel who dressed always in suit ! My only interested was guessing the familiar faces I knew : so the gentle cop was Dana's boyfriend in « Ghostbusters », the bad guy was already officer with Richard Gere and his henchman played in « Dark Angel » ! What a waste of time especially when you see that it's from « Cujo » director with the late and regretted exceptional Poledouris on the score !

Surprisingly good TV movie

[ipkevin · 9 September 2001]

A naval officer (Kim Delaney) is ensnared in a plot involving military secrets and extortion after her traitorous ex-husband (David Keith) escapes from prison. While the writing is basically standard TV thriller stuff, Love & Treason stands out from the TV crowd with its unusually good production values and stylish direction. The deeply saturated colours and visually striking shots remind me of Jerry Bruckheimer's big action thrillers (well, on a much lower-key TV scale, of course). I'm not surprised to learn that the director, Lewis Teague, has several feature films under his belt and that the film was produced by the people behind Hunt for Red October. However, don't expect Bruckheimer-type action scenes. Indeed, the amount of action is minimal, with the running time largely filled by dialogue and intrigue. Teague keeps the pace fast and steadily builds the tension though, so lack of action is not a big problem. The actors are fine if unremarkable and great outdoor locations are used. Overall, it's well above average for a network TV movie.

Low-budget TV-thriller

[henning-580-674024 · 3/10 · 13 January 2013]

When I turned on the TV and browsed the programmes, I found this movie. I'm mostly keen on some good tension to forget everything around me for a while. So when the description said "adventure and action", I jumped on. Alas, it disappointed me from the first to the last minute. The protagonist seemed unnaturally arrogant in her talking, which irritated me a lot, and her script was like she had learned it by heart some minutes earlier. The other actors played their roles well, but they could have shown a lot more if the story line had been heavier.

Where was the adventure? I wouldn't call a journey into the fjords "adventure". I imagine adventure as something going beyond your limits, survival, the unknown, but definitely not this. Because of the budget the director stuck at a few places, where everything should happen. The longest distance on a half-an-hour drive or something? Action? An attempt, a bank robbery with hacker scripts, kidnapping scenes, a. Okay, I slightly agree. However, the daily-life talking bored me. Also, the actors were only gibbering about "the antagonist is a traitor and broke his wife's heart". The message was clear by the second dialogue, so the director could have shortened the movie down with approximately 1/3, leaving out the other discussions. The antagonist himself was surprisingly fair and kind. According to his wife, he is a genius and he speaks many languages. Why not exploit these qualities in the movie?

Drama: the movie deals with intrigues. Though, the outcome of these intrigues should have been more complex and visible in the Navy Dept. Already in the beginning, this story drew a clear line between the good (Navy) and the bad (the antagonist and co.). That's quite cliché and you already know what will happen. This movie had much potential because of the plot (2/10) and a part of the cast (1/10), but it couldn't captivate me. I would recommend this movie to a female public. Even a 70's 007 makes you thrill more.