L'ombre de la séduction

Don't be tempted to see this movie, unless you really have nothing better to do. The series of NYC yuppie mysteries produced much better films than this very boring and un-interesting production. The story of an attractive ex-police woman, now a PI, hired to follow a married man and getting involved with the subject of her inquiry is too expected to catch the attention. The resulting triangle cannot create the much needed sexual tension, and what should have been a series of surprises can be predicted many film minutes in advance. Conventional acting and a foggy ending do not add too much.

5/10 on my personal scale.

I saw this movie, on cable, late at night. That, alone, should tell you something. This movie reads like pulp fiction, true. But, that's really all it is. You can tell by the title that it isn't Casablanca. It isn't Gone With the Wind. It isn't even Shawshank Redemption. It's *the right temptation*!!! The word "temptation" should tell you that it's not an oscar winner, folks. So, understanding that it is really nothing more than a romance novel bred with a crime drama...I enjoyed it (A LOT!). There is so much sexual tension in this movie, and the characters are insanely complex. I enjoyed some of the unique bits in this movie; for example, the starlets aren't 18...they actually have a few lines on their face. The lead character also has a pet pig. More than anything I wanted to stand up for Kiefer Sutherland in this movie. I became a fan of his only because of his acting in this film...it's so moving. During a very emotional part of the movie, he started welling up with tears and was so damn moving that I started CRYING (something that I do NOT do at movies...ever). He did a really good job, as did everyone in this movie. The script was cheesy and very pulpy...but if you like corny lines delivered by good actresses/actors, you'll love this movie.

For what must have been perceived as weaknesses in other

aspects of the film that would have given it the tension and grit that

it needed, the director substituted abrupt "high schoolish" booms

and crashes as well as foul language that just seemed to be out

of place. Otherwise, it was a mostly unremarkable hour-and-a-half's entertainment.

As one other reviewer noted, it is interesting (she called it "heroic"

or something like that) the two female stars managed to bare

absolutely no skin in an "R" rated movie for reasons of "sexual

content." Maybe Ms. Delany and Ms. DeMornay had "no nudity" in

their contracts because of their maturity and the ramifications

associated with the same.

Kiefer Sutherland has sunk to a new low. The plot was not new, very predictable, and the acting bad. The cinematography was jerky (Blair Witch) and there were scenes which didn't connect. This excuse for a movie should be ash canned. I found more suspense in picking my nose.

This film has a good story that unravels at the end. Still, for a small independent film, it is intriguing, handling the mystery element well. Derien (Rebecca De Mornay) is a former vice cop now working as a private detective. Anthea (Dana Delaney) hires her to follow her husband Michael (Kiefer Sutherland) to see if he is cheating on her. After a few uneventful days of surveillance, Anthea is still not satisfied, so she adds a new dimension to the assignment. She proposes that Derien try to seduce her husband to test his fidelity. His response is predictable; the rest is not.

The story has some interesting and innovative twists, but becomes incongruous at the end. Without giving away the ending, all I can say is the director needed to do more research on forensics, because a suspect who is arrested for murder in the film would have been cleared 30 minutes after being detained in the real world.

The cast gives a solid performance. Kiefer Sutherland has played so many demented characters in his career that it is something of a shock seeing him in so normal a role. His character is no angel, but at least he isn't a sociopath. Sutherland gives a good performance but makes his character almost too nice. Rebecca De Mornay is back in shape, after a flaccid performance in `A Table for One'. This is actually the best I can remember her in quite some time. She is effective at rendering a character that is tough on the outside and tortured on the inside, with more than one weak spot in her psyche. Dana Delany is devious and duplicitous as the scheming wife.

Overall, this B movie could have been better, but it is far from bad. I rated it a 6/10. If you enjoy mysteries, it might be worth a try.