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CONSENSUS
Alias Betty works both as a gripping thriller and as a precisely drawn character study.
CAST & CREW
Sandrine Kiberlain, Nicole Garcia, Mathilde Seigner
Directed by Claude Miller
more...
SYNOPSIS
Director Claude Miller was a protégé of Francois Truffaut, and the French master’s influence is clear in this low-key thriller, based on the novel THE TREE OF HANDS by Ruth Rendell. more...
MPAA RATING
Not Rated
RUNTIME
1 hour, 41 minutes
RELEASE DATES
Theatrical: Sep 13, 2002
Video: Mar 11, 2003
RELEASE COMPANY
Wellspring
GENRE
Comedies, Dramas, Foreign Films, French, Thriller
OFFICIAL SITE
• The Official Alias Betty Site
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TIDBITS
SUBMIT/EDIT ARTICLE
SUBMIT USER REVIEW
FORUM
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 "It says a lot about a filmmaker when he can be wacky without clobbering the audience over the head and still maintain a sense of urgency and suspense."
-- Jeffrey M. Anderson, SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
"[Miller] knows that good suspense films don't always need to keep viewers on the edges of their seats; sometimes they can just be concerned with what interesting characters will do next."
-- Rod Armstrong, REEL.COM
"Claude Miller airs out a tight plot with an easy pace and a focus on character drama over crime-film complications."
-- Sean Axmaker, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
"Miller has crafted an intriguing story of maternal instincts and misguided acts of affection."
-- Laura Bushell, BBCI FILMS
"You could say that it's slow at times, you could say that a few of the characters act in ways that real people wouldn't, but one thing you couldn't say is that Alias Betty is predictable."
-- Larry Carroll, COUNTINGDOWN.COM
"If this movie were a book, it would be a page-turner, you can't wait to see what happens next."
-- Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone, THEMOVIECHICKS.COM
 "Should have been someone else-"
-- John Esther, PASADENA WEEKLY
"An absorbing trip into the minds and motivations of people under stress as well as a keen, unsentimental look at variations on the theme of motherhood."
-- Arthur Lazere, CULTUREVULTURE.NET
"Miller tells this very compelling tale with little fuss or noise, expertly plucking tension from quiet."
-- Moira MacDonald, SEATTLE TIMES
"Like a Tarantino movie with heart, Alias Betty is richly detailed, deftly executed and utterly absorbing."
-- Sean Means, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
"It's a solid movie about people whose lives are anything but."
-- Peter Rainer, NEW YORK MAGAZINE
"A captivating story."
-- Dennis Schwartz, OZUS' WORLD MOVIE REVIEWS
"Sharp psychological thriller...about mothers and children."
-- Frank Swietek, ONE GUY'S OPINION
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"Some of what happens in Alias Betty is highly improbable. Yet Miller and his excellent cast sell the story by not overplaying their hands."
-- Robert W. Butler, KANSAS CITY STAR
"It's pithy without being saccharine; it's funny without ever not taking itself seriously; it's full of beautiful characters and great performances."
-- Tim Cogshell, BOXOFFICE MAGAZINE
"Miller is playing so free with emotions, and the fact that children are hostages to fortune, that he makes the audience hostage to his swaggering affectation of seriousness."
-- David Elliott, SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
"An ingenious and often harrowing look at damaged people and how families can offer either despair or consolation."
-- Harry Guerin, RTE INTERACTIVE (DUBLIN, IRELAND)
"A fine film, but it would be a lot better if it stuck to Betty Fisher and left out the other stories."
-- Kim Linekin, EYE WEEKLY
"An intricate tale of guilt, grief and dark serendipity...so deft it's hard not to gasp with delight as the plot's pieces slide into place and its machinery begins humming."
-- Maitland McDonagh, TV GUIDE'S MOVIE GUIDE
"Kiberlain gives an impressive performance that is harshly uncompromising in its presentation of a woman filled with anger, grief and a highly discernible writing talent."
-- David Noh, FILM JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL
"Like a three-ring circus, there are side stories aplenty -- none of them memorable."
-- Steve Rhodes, STEVE RHODES' INTERNET REVIEWS
"An engrossing story that combines psychological drama, sociological reflection, and high-octane thriller."
-- David Sterritt, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
"A small gem of a movie that defies classification and is as thought-provoking as it is funny, scary and sad."
-- Derek Tse, JAM! MOVIES
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FRESH 94%
Avg. Rating: 7.5/10 |
"Works as a decent urban thriller."
-- John Anderson, NEWSDAY
"Miller makes the film's sometimes mechanical and giddy narrative into something grander -- a meditation on maternity as a form of inspired madness."
-- Leslie Camhi, VILLAGE VOICE
"A dashing and absorbing outing with one of France's most inventive directors."
-- Ray Conlogue, GLOBE AND MAIL
"A provocative movie about loss, anger, greed, jealousy, sickness and love."
-- Jonathan Curiel, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
"At heart the movie is a deftly wrought suspense yarn whose richer shadings work as coloring rather than substance."
-- Stephen Holden, NEW YORK TIMES
"Cold, pretentious, thoroughly dislikable study in sociopathy."
-- Ann Hornaday, WASHINGTON POST
"If this movie leaves you cool, it also leaves you intriguingly contemplative."
-- Desson Howe, WASHINGTON POST
"Often shocking but ultimately worthwhile exploration of motherhood and desperate mothers."
-- David Hunter, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
"At its best when the guarded, resentful Betty and the manipulative yet needy Margot are front and center."
-- Glenn Lovell, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
"A stylish thriller."
-- V.A. Musetto, NEW YORK POST
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"This is pretty dicey material. But some unexpected zigs and zags help."
-- Jeff Vice, DESERET NEWS, SALT LAKE CITY
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* Who are the Approved Tomatometer Critics?
* Mouse over a tomato icon for a publication's original rating. Original rating not available for every publication.
* In fairness to critics whose last name begins with a letter at the end of the alphabet, certain pages are sorted in reverse order, z-a.
* Certain "Alias Betty" article data provided by the Movie Review Query Engine.
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