True stories about courage in the face of massive adversities are always guaranteed to tug at our emotions: this one has the edge on heart-on-sleeve pieces like Born on the Fourth of July in that it deliberately under-emphasises the horrors of the situation in which the central character finds herself. Betty (a typically pugnacious performance by Sally Field) is happily married to Moody (Alfred Molina), an Iranian-born doctor who has lived in America for 20 years. They have a five-year-old daughter. Very reluctantly, Betty agrees to a two-week holiday in Iran. Whether this is a ruse, or whether Moody very quickly reverts to the traditions of his native Islam, the film doesn't make clear, but the result is the same - a living nightmare for Betty and her daughter. Moody decides to stay in Iran and his wife finds herself watched day and night, confined to her quarters and beaten for disobedience. Field never overplays her hand as the terrorised wife and Molina, not batting an eyelid, achieves a seamless transfer from loving, gentle husband to ranting wife-beating tyrant.


©ipc tx. Film content from TVTimes