Customer Reviews

Deceived

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

While some might call the plot twists of this 1991 thriller improbable, for me the tension and build to the film created a momentum that carried us to the incredibly scary climax. Doing less than 30 million in box office, this was not a big hit; but it is a film that holds up remarkably well 12 years after release. Goldie Hawn does an excellent job as Adrienne Saunders, a woman who seems to have it all with a beautiful child and happy marriage. Her husband Jack seems like the All-American father. Then when a colleague of her husband's gets murdered, clue upon clue seems to fly up in her face until Adrienne has to confront her husband. Then he mysteriously dies in a car accident. Director Damian Harris who seems to thrive on thrillers such as last year's "Mercy," does an amazing job of having event build upon event. The supporting cast of characters do a great job from Jack Saunders' sister to Paul Sullivan's mother. While this may not be a perfect film, it is a thriller that packs a wallop. Goldie Hawn delivers an understated and believable performance as the terrorized and deceived wife. This is a film worth discovering or revisiting a little over a decade after its release. Enjoy!

Goldie turns in a fantastic act! The story is believable! The acting, filming, music.... all equate to one hell of a thriller!
John Heard plays the psycho role very well! An original character here, not typical of other similar films.
The story starts slowly, but picks up speed nicely. Tension mounts and lies begin to be uncovered. The creepiest, skin-crawling scene I have ever seen, is when Goldie is sleeping and someone is trying to make love to her! When she wakes up, the look on her face is truly frightening!
Here is a story line like no other! Must see!

This is of the creepy genre variety, with lots of tension. One of the things I liked about it is that Adrienne is NOT weak or bubble-headed; that she begins to doubt when she should; that she is angry when she should be angry. She does her detective work; she fights for herself at the end and saves herself at the end (although I don't see how she could have, in her position, shut the elevator cage behind her). And the film really does make you wonder: how many around us are leading double lives? Is the person next to you honest or not?

This is definitely one of my wife and my favorite movies. I just wish we could go back again and watch its twisty, surprising plot for the first time. Who would have thought that the bubbly, giggly Goldie Hawn (Wildcats, Private Benjamin, among others) would excel in this serious leading role, assisted by an awesome John Heard as her husband with a dark, mysterious background. I don't want to give away too much of the story; suffice to say, this is a great suspenseful drama. It also has some neat eerie background music. I highly suggest buying this title on DVD and curling up in the dark. Enjoy that first screening!

One of Goldie's best. An eerie and suspenseful story that makes you wonder if you really know the person you're with. The movie keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time trying to put the plot together. Goldie really proved herself as a a serious actress in this film. This movie shows that Goldie is not just a comedy star.

Wow. I never thought I'd see the day when a movie comes out in my time that is like an old Hitchcock-type movie. Wow. Just wow. I was kept in suspense the whole way through. Great. Just great, fun, classic suspense.

Does in get any better than Gold Hawn in a serious "who dunnit?" You find out what a good actress she is ... more range than she's been given credit for. "Deceived" is an excellent movie -- the kind you actually put on "pause" when you run to the kitchen for a snack instead of letting it just play on.

Great movie! The work of a master in my book, and I've never even heard of director Damian Harris. The photography was excellent with lots of intriguing and subtle touches. The camera creeps around with the stealth of a snake at times, or like a hawk, sometimes gliding overhead, sometimes swooping in for the kill.

Nice mood-perfect lighting and sets, and my dvd had a crystal clear wide-screen transfer (specifications: widescreen 1.85:1). Besides an optional French language track and French and Spanish subtitles though, there were no bonus features. Unless you count Goldie Hawn's performance. She's usually fun to watch, but I can't remember the last time I saw her shine like this. Usually in comedic roles, she still carries her certain charm in this movie which greatly helps the overall entertainment factor. She was fantastic, though in fact there were great performances all around from the women in this movie (her husband's friend's sister, her husband's mother, even the maid!). A classy, stylish thriller indeed! A lot to admire in this story and the way it was delivered.

This was a great film and Goldie was wonderful in her more 'serious' role. This is actually one of my favorite Goldie films alongside Death Becomes Her. To me Deceived classifies as being in Hitchcock territory, and I think he would have definitely appreciated this. If you enjoy thrillers, this one should be in your collection because it doesn't get much better. The performances are top-notch, the writing was up to par and the suspense and mystery builds through the entire film. The musical score and the settings used were all very effective. You can watch the Siskel & Ebert review of this online. They give credit to Goldie for doing something different other than comedies. But Ebert says there was too much chasing around at the end so some may view it as being in the sub-genre of horror. I loved the ending as it was very entertaining and exciting. Had they gone more subtle, Ebert probably would have then called it anti-climatic. They also poke fun at some of the writing recalling a scene where Goldie tells someone to "Watch out!" Good for her. I loved that scene. One noticeable cliche' here I will mention is the cat jumping out unexpectedly, and I won't say when. But if the cat jumping out is all you're looking at, you will be missing out on an awesome thriller. Also recommended: The Skeleton Key which stars Goldie's daughter Kate Hudson.

Having started her highly successful career as the bubbly blonde with the big smile and specialising in comedies Goldie Hawn took a dramatic turn when she tackled the leading role in the chilling thriller "Deceived". Inspired by the type of films normally associated with Alfred Hitchcock, this film is a terrific vechicle for Goldie's dramatic talents and really shows her great diversity as an actress which is often quite underestimated.

Not a huge success upon its release "Deceived" nevertheless is a taut and attention grabbing little thriller that succeeds throughout its entire length in keeping you on the edge of your seat and really keeps you guessing right up to its terrifying conclusion. Indeed the film's finale is so full on, exciting and indeed scary, that it can be a quite exhausting experience watching it. However for lovers of a good thriller this well made film is I think an undiscovered gem that will really hold your attention and will stay in your mind.

Goldie Hawn plays Adrienne Saunders a highly succesful career woman who has a great job, beautiful apartment, and a lovely daughter and who thinks her life is complete when she meets by chance a handsome and successful stranger Jack Saunders (played by terrific actor John Heard in a chilling performance) when a blind date doesn't show. She falls instantly in love and they marry and their life together appears to be a perfect one until strange revelations and occurences start happening that make Adrienne suspicious and begin to question who she has actually married. Through the course of the story Adrienne finds that her husband is living under an assumed name and that when he is supposedly killed in a car accident it is revealed that he is actually alive and has another family that she knows nothing about. As the true story of her husbands real identity begins to reveal itself Adrienne begins to fear for her life as Jack is also revealed as a murderer of both some hitchhikers to cover his tracks,and one of his collegues in the Egyptian section of the Metropolitan Museum where he has stolen an extremely valuable Ancient Egyptian piece of jewellery, hidden it in Adrienne's apartment and is now intent upon trying to get it back. The scenes of Jack first stalking and then pursuing his wife as she begins to find out the truth of his real identity are quite harrowing with alot of Hitchcockian elements inserted to add to the tension and shock value. Goldie Hawn is excellent in portraying firstly a disbelieving woman who goes through all the trauma of realising that she has been totally deceived about the life she was leading and the man she thought she was married too. John Heard is right on and very scary in the role of Jack who has led a double life for years and is not what he first appears to be. His acting in the exciting finale is excellent and he projects the right elements of menace and madness which is ideal for the role. He works very well with Goldie and the conclusion of the film is a real shocker, containing I believe one of the best finales of any thriller of recent years. I wont reveal here what it is for the benefit of those who haven't seen this film yet but it is truly frightening and well staged.

"Deceived" is not one of Goldie Hawn's best known films and being one of her rare excursions into the dramatic thriller genre for which she is not commonly associated , was largely passed over during the time of its theatrical release. It however is a wonderfully surprising film with lots of twists and turns in the plot, interesting characters, and a terrific finale. I strongly recommend the little known "Deceived" to you not only for its great acting by Goldie Hawn, but also as an exciting thriller guaranteed to keep your interest.