The acting in "Sweet Revenge" is very good, especially from the fledglings who would later become stars, Alec Baldwin and Helen Hunt. Kelly McGillis does well in the lead role and Kevin Dobson makes a noteworthy knave. The story is mainly old style soap opera but there are a few surprises thrown in from time to time, especially the part where Katherine (Kelly McGillis) waits in the dark to shoot the man responsible for her brother's death.
Though the basic story is old hat there are important themes touched on but never fully developed. One of interest is the relationship between Maj. Alex Breen (Baldwin) and his commanding officer, the amoral Col. Joseph Cheever (Dobson). There is an element of hero worship involved which almost leads to Maj. Breen choosing Col. Cheever over his wife in trying to understand exactly what is happening between the two, is it an abortive affair or is it something else? This hearkens back to a similar relationship between Col. Cheever and his commanding officer Gen. George Markham when General Markham's daughter forced herself on a not too unwilling Cheever leading to the death of the general's daughter. General Markham believes Cheever's lies and puts the blame on Katherine's brother who has been set up to take the fall for Cheever. Not only does the script fail to develop some interesting facets begging to be explored, the direction slows the pace of the film down so much that at times the viewer wants to shout, "Get on with the show!" One gets the idea that the movie is being stretched to fill a two hour time slot minus commercials for television, when an hour would have been time aplenty for a neat little revenge flick.
Though the basic story is old hat there are important themes touched on but never fully developed. One of interest is the relationship between Maj. Alex Breen (Baldwin) and his commanding officer, the amoral Col. Joseph Cheever (Dobson). There is an element of hero worship involved which almost leads to Maj. Breen choosing Col. Cheever over his wife in trying to understand exactly what is happening between the two, is it an abortive affair or is it something else? This hearkens back to a similar relationship between Col. Cheever and his commanding officer Gen. George Markham when General Markham's daughter forced herself on a not too unwilling Cheever leading to the death of the general's daughter. General Markham believes Cheever's lies and puts the blame on Katherine's brother who has been set up to take the fall for Cheever. Not only does the script fail to develop some interesting facets begging to be explored, the direction slows the pace of the film down so much that at times the viewer wants to shout, "Get on with the show!" One gets the idea that the movie is being stretched to fill a two hour time slot minus commercials for television, when an hour would have been time aplenty for a neat little revenge flick.