The Temp

This is one of my "guilty pleasures" movies. A movie that has no real message and nothing profound to say. It's just fun to watch. (Con Air is another example for me.) The performances are more than adequate for this type of movie, so it is easy to watch.

Basic premise, Peter Derns (Timothy Hutton) gets a temp, Kris Bolin (Lara Flynn Boyle) that is smart, sexy and ambitious. She seems like a Godsend at first because she actually helps him in his dog-eat-dog world of marketing. His boss, Charlene (Faye Dunaway) is great in her supporting role as both mentor & menace.

One of the problems is that Peter is under mental supervision (aka: shrink) for supposed paranoia & extreme jealousy. When things start to go wrong as Kris works her way up the ladder, everyone thinks he's just paranoid. Hmm?

Well, you can probably guess what happens next. But even though this movie is predictable, it doesn't stop me from watching it whenever it's on. The actors are fun to watch, and very attractive. The sexual tension between Hutton & Boyle is believable. And there are plenty of deaths to keep it moving right along!

Just a fun movie, nothing major or worthy of the Academy of Dramatic Arts- but then not everything has to be. Just enjoy this for what it is- a guilty pleasure.

Many of the key scenes are telegraphed in the style of Friday the 13th.

Faye Dunaway is over-the-top. She's sort of like The Joker in batman. She kind of channeled her character from the movie Network, but it didn't work here as well.

Timothy Hutton is my favorite actor. He makes it look so easy, and has such an appealing presence. Another reviewer said that you want to root for his character, because you identify with him. I agree. That's the case with most of his movies.

Lara Flynn Boyle was great. She nailed it. However, her hair style, and the psychotic look in her eyes were a real turn off. Maura Tierney is meant to look depressed and plain. Therefore, there was no eye-candy in this one for me, although I understand that Boyle was, for most men.

Portland, and Oregon in general looked great. I never thought of skycrapers and big businesses in Portland, but I guess there are some. There is a scene when the characters are traveling down to the state capitol of Salem, via the Coast Highway. That was just thrown in for scenery, because the coast is way west of the road to Salem.

The main character's personal problem from the past is key to the plot. It seems a bit far-fetched, but I liked it. A simple, cheap plot device, but I'll allow it.

I thoroughly enjoyed the physical atmosphere, the buddy aspect, the believable wife, Hutton's persona, and the devilish Boyle. Not a great film, but I will undoubtedly take out my VHS copy again in a few years, or introduce it to a friend.

The stalker from hell was the most popular plot in Hollywood in the early 1990s . In fact come to think of it , it was probably the only Hollywood plot in those days . Never a week went by without a major film studio releasing film featuring a spurned lover from hell , a lodger from hell , a cop from hell a flatmate from hell etc . What I didn`t know was that there was a personal assistant from hell film called THE TEMP untill I saw it on TV the other night .

I`ve got to admit I`ve got a soft spot for these type of movies even though they`re all the same . As you`d expect THE TEMP plays out like the rest of them with an everyman character finding his life falling apart with the climax involving a physical life or death struggle . Timothy Hutton plays the everyman character fairly well in this , and the final scene isn`t as how you`d expect it . Without doubt the best scene involves some public samples of biscuits .

If you like these type of movies you`ll like THE TEMP . If not you won`t

I too turned this film on not expecting much...in fact as something to fall asleep to...

BUT

its not as bad as you might think

Tim Hutton plays paranoid pretty much the same as he did in 'Dark Half' and Lara Flynne Boyle does a fine job as the obvious 'crazy' whilst managing to hold up one of the most ridiculous hairstyles in years...and the movie still works as long as you think of it as a sub-Fatal Attraction thriller and not expect some novel work of cinema

Give it a go...

Very suspenseful film stars the Lara Flynn Boyle as a temp who is climbing the corporate ladder faster than her boss (Timothy Hutton) and makes his life a living hell the entire way by sabotaging his work and murdering various executives. Boyle turns in a delightfully wicked performance that rises beyond, and Hutton's performance as Peter Derns is exceptionally true to what any man would do. Lara plays a convincing deadly Diva, along the same lines as some of the greats like Kathy Bates in "Misery", Glenn Close in "Fatal Attraction", and Sharon Stone in "Basic Instinct." Rarely do you see this many twist and turns in what looks to be a straightforward plot...

Actually I really like this movie! Stunning and popular star Lara Flynn Boyle overtly titillating us and wearing skimpy outfits even including a bikini, Timothy Hutton, habitual scene stealer Oliver Platt during younger and thinner days, superstar Faye Dunaway, and Steven Webber from the TV show "Wings." How's that for voltage? Add in a proved plot-line with a long pedigree, some great whacky dialog, and top it off with the inspired idea of a corporate thriller set in a cookie company with the climax in an industrial kitchen, and yeah... I'll bank that. How could you possibly lose?

Overall rating: 7 out of 10.