Bitter Vengeance (1994): The Steal Trap

Dave takes a look at another solid USA Network original.

“In a way, it’s like each one of my movies is a tune, and they add up to a thematic album. In the end, of course, I turn out to be a scumbag instead of a hero!”

Bruce Greenwood has certainly played his fair share of scumbags – and as he told The Cedar Rapids Gazette just prior to the USA Network airing BITTER VENGEANCE, he’s always been grateful for the chance to mix it up.

“I’ve been very lucky. These last two years it’s just been back-to-back work in a wide variety of stuff, so I haven’t had to continually do the bad-guy-who-looks-like-a-good-guy, and has a hatchet stashed in his back pocket type of role.” [1]

There’s no grey area here, though:

In Bitter Vengeance, Greenwood is a scumbag from the start.

Annie Westford (Virginia Madsen) is the devoted wife of Jack (Greenwood), an angry ex-cop who feels that his current job as a bank security guard is beneath him. However, when Jack surprises his other half with a romantic cruise on a fancy yacht, it seems like he’s finally made peace with his new profession. Unbeknownst to Annie, the reality is that Jack is having a steamy affair with an attractive co-worker (Kristen Dalton), and he’s concocted an ambitious plan to steal a six-figure sum from his employer and pin the blame on his long-suffering spouse.

Based upon its (eventual) video cover, you’d think Bitter Vengeance a Dead Calm (1989) rip-off.

Nice marketing, but wide of the mark:

The vast majority of the picture takes place on dry land and is focused on Jack’s intricate planning of his heist. That’s not to say Annie is a secondary character; but it’s very much a film of two halves and she comes into her own once Jack’s diabolical scheme is laid bare. Greenwood – predictably – is in his element, and Madsen portrays the double-crossed Annie with a perfect mix of despair-cum-dogged determination.

By the time of Bitter Vengeance‘s making, director Stuart Cooper was an old hand. Cable TV, movie-of-the-week territory was meat and drink to the acclaimed filmmaker, whose legacy includes the highly acclaimed festival favourite Overlord (1975). In Bitter Vengeance, Cooper brings the requisite level of pace and dynamism while integrating enough flair to make the picture rise above the more cookie cutter standards of its peers.

The duplicity and intrigue threaded throughout Bitter Vengeance comes via the pen of Pablo F. Fenjves, a Venezuelan screenwriter with a knack for crafting teleplays that are as tight as a drum. Fenjves hit pay dirt a decade and a half after Bitter Vengeance with the taut thriller Man on a Ledge (2012), but for me his best remains the eclectic body of work he did for the small screen. The Corbin Bernsen caper Bloodhounds (1996) and it’s slightly superior sequel, Bloodhounds II (1996), are both excellent, as is his first gig, A Case For Murder (1993).

Bitter Vengeance resides comfortably among them.

USA ● 1994 ● Thriller, TVM ● 91mins

Virginia Madsen, Bruce Greenwood, Kristen Dalton, Eddie Velez ● Dir. Stuart Cooper ● Wri. Pablo F. Fenjves