LOVE AND BETRAYAL: THE MIA FARROW STORY

Patsy Kensit as Mia Farrow

LOVE AND BETRAYAL: THE MIA FARROW STORY (1995 telefilm/mini-series). Director: Karen Arthur.

"If this scandal breaks, the media will put your corpse in an envelope and mail it to Roman Polanski."

Based on a biography of Mia Farrow (Patsy Kensit) as well as a tell-all by her former nanny -- but not on her own memoirs -- this telefilm looks at the life of the actress with particular emphasis on her scandalous relationship with long-time partner and artistic associate Woody Allen (Dennis Boutsikaris). Flashbacks reveal Farrow's relationships with Frank Sinatra (Richard Muenz) and Andre Previn (Robert LuPone), both of whom married her whereas Allen did not. The shit hits the fan when Farrow discovers that Allen has been having an affair with her own adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn (Grace Una), under her nose, which is betrayal from two people she loves. Soon-Yi is an adult, but later Mia charges that Allen molested a much younger daughter, Dylan (who maintains that to this day). Cynthia A. Cherbak has written an excellent script which intelligently examines this business from both sides, but whatever Farrow's faults (and she has many) it's hard not to see Allen as a sleaze-bucket who showed no restraint but rather slept with his long-time girlfriend's daughter, who was also the sister of his own children (Allen was not the father, adoptive or otherwise, of Soon-Yi). The telefilm is extremely well-acted by a cast that is invariably more attractive than the characters they portray, and along the way we're treated to glimpses of versions of Maureen O'Sullivan (Frances Helm); Dory Previn, Andre's cast-off wife (Lynne Cormack); Roman Polanski (Bruce McCarty); and other personages well-known or not. Kensit actually played Mia Farrow's daughter in The Great Gatsby, and has had many credits, and Boutsikaris has had even more.

Verdict: An entertaining and very well-acted three hours. ***.