The Betsy

R

1978

2 hr. 6 min.

Drama

List

17%

6 Reviews

Tomatometer

22%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

An auto tycoon (Laurence Olivier) spites his corporate heir (Robert Duvall) by having a test driver (Tommy Lee Jones) build a bold new car.

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Audience Member

Laurence Olivier trying to imitate a Midwest Tycoon must be the all time worst accent in any film ever. It is worth watching the movie just to see how incredibly bad Olivier can be. I wish I could find some kind of YouTube clip or something like that with him showing off his acting chops in the film. Incredibly bad.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Vintage 70s kitsch. A very young Tommy Lee Jones (voted best hair).

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/15/23

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Audience Member

great story about a car manufacturer similiar to one of the big three, and subtle twists regarding the various struggles to produce a gas efficient car, better than most Tommy Lee Jones movies today

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

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Audience Member

One of the most plotless movies ever conceived from a novel...a Harold Robbins novel, that is. It flashes back and forth throughout the movie focusing on Laurence Olivier's character and his career. It has big stars in this movie and even that doesn't make it good enough. It does however show that the actors have great talent when it comes to acting because the end result shows up in the movie. The acting is good, the director not so much and the script is mediocre. It's one of those movies that is worth seeing for believing how bad it truly is.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

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Audience Member

Very entertaining trash, adapted from Harold Robbins' best seller, about family relations and politics in a three generation sect of automobile builders (whose cars look suspiciously like late 1970s AMCs). Still just a soap opera, but a very good one at that, with a wonderful, enegetic cast.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Melodramatic rubbish, but fun rubbish. Good sets, costumes and all that, very little regard for accurate period detail. Many over the top performances, but it's entertaining. A bit overlong, a little more editing would have helped out.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

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Daniel Petrie

Director

Laurence Olivier

Loren Hardeman

Robert Duvall

Loren Hardeman III

Tommy Lee Jones

Angelo Perino

Katharine Ross

Sally Hardeman

Jane Alexander

Alicia Hardeman

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Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

...Cinema and soap opera are two different things, and The Betsy creates an Edsel for the ages by mixing the two up...

Rated: 2/5

Jul 16, 2022

Full Review

Fernando Trueba

El Pais (Spain)

The Betsy is Hollywood trash. [Full Review in Spanish]

Jul 31, 2019

Full Review

Donald McLean

Bay Area Reporter

The Betsy had the audience convulsed. The only problem is, it's not supposed to be a comedy. It Just turned out that way.

Jul 24, 2019

Full Review

Lori Hoffman

Atlantic City Weekly

Rated: 1/5

May 25, 2006

Full Review

Chuck O'Leary

Fantastica Daily

Rated: 3/5

Oct 21, 2005

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Jul 9, 2005

Full Review

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Synopsis

An auto tycoon (Laurence Olivier) spites his corporate heir (Robert Duvall) by having a test driver (Tommy Lee Jones) build a bold new car.

Director: Daniel Petrie
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2008

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