Tyler Perry's Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor

Temptation is a step up from Tyler Perry's previous ho-hum Alex Cross, but it still a far cry from being the kind film one would gush over. The two biggest draws in the film are Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Kim Kardashian. Smollett, who in her last film "The Great Debaters" (2007) gave an outstanding performance in great chemistry with stellar young ensemble, was not as bless with as high of a cast quality. Nevertheless, her acting as the seduced wife Judith was stretched in some new ways in "Temptation" and on the whole she doesn't do badly.

Kardashian, is irritating in her role as Ava, Judith's work colleague, but then again, that is what her character is suppose to be. As such -- many other critics' assessment notwithstanding, Kardashian's acting is neither good nor bad, but simply OK.

As for the plot, Tyler Perry(writer and director) puts forward an interesting treatment of the issues of spousal and professional dissatisfaction, and how that can be used in a seduction passion play. A decent directorial effort, but Perry is still struggling with some filmmaking fundamentals such as pacing, camera angle decisions, and very irritatingly, sound editing. There were points where the critical dialogue of protagonists seducer and seducee was too mumbled to be anything close to erotic.

The film's biggest failing is the sexual chemistry between Judith and Harley(played by Robbie Jones). It just doesn't seem like a credible attraction. Whether the actors, casting or direction is to blame, who knows? But any Perry movie these days has to be considered high profile -- if for no other reason than his large audience drawing -- and as such, anything short of smoking sexual chemistry represents a critical movie failure. I keep rooting for Perry, but this is typical of his best films -- mixed quality, mixed results.

I consider myself a big Tyler Perry fan. I watched many of his filmed stage plays and his movies. My favorite TP movies are Diary of a Mad Black Woman and I Can Do Bad All By Myself. I can watch those particular movies over and over again because they are both dramatic and very funny, touching on real relationship themes, and both celebrate the triumph of the human spirit.

However, I cannot say the same for the recent movies TP has directed and/or produced. With the exception of the Oscar-winning Precious, his more recent films seem deadly serious, or flat, or not fully developed; in other words, they lack joy and or too predictable, as is the case of his latest Temptation movie. If this is TP's attempt to produce his own Fatal Attraction or Unfaithful, he fails miserably at it. In a nutshell, if you've seen the trailer for this underwritten, unimaginative story, you've seen it all. There's nothing more to say. Mr. Perry, where have you gone?

Over the weekend my wife and I decided to see this film because she's a huge Tyler Perry fan and she's been wanting to see it badly. I really wasn't to enthused about seeing this movie because I am not a Tyler Perry fan.

First off, this movie was just as predictable as his others. Just like some other Tyler Perry movies my wife and I saw together, I was commentating some parts of the movie to her before it even happened. Now there was one part towards the end that did take me by surprise.

When ever I get the misfortune of watching a Tyler Perry film, I can sit through the entire movie and not crack one smile, but Vanessa Williams(Janice) and Renee Taylor(Chapman) had a couple of funny parts that did make me chuckle a bit.

With all that being said, this movie was a little better than his others. Now I still wouldn't pay to see it in a theater or buy it on DVD. I would just wait till it got to RedBox and pay $1.31.

"Tyler Perry's Temptation"- Once again, an example of a non-Madea Tyler Perry flick where he believes that a handsome face and a stellar smile can make the film work! In this case, he couldn't be more wrong! Temptation delivers very little more than a ridiculously simple and predictable plot, horrible acting, and as anti-climactic an ending as I've ever seen. I mean, honestly, there are two types of people in this world; Those that will think this movie is 'genius' JUST because Tyler Perry wrote it and those who will actually use their brains to finally realize that the garbage he puts on not just the big screen, but cable television as well is nothing more than stereotypical, melodramatic bullshit that characterizes Black people as oversexed animals with no moral core and who love to participate in the drama that each of his literary pieces is based on. PLEASE, if you are one of those who actually use their brains as mentioned above, RESIST THE "TEMPTATION" TO SEE THIS GARBAGE! 4.5/10

Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor was conceptually a good film. It is basically about a couple who love each other, however things start getting a little bland at home and the wife feels like she is being taken for granted and things have gotten to be routine and boring. Judith (Jurnee Smolett-Bell) and Brice (Lance Gross) have known each other since they were children and they were destined to eventually get married and start a life together. Judith works for Janice (Vanessa L. Williams) at a high-end dating service. Janice has a weird French accent which struck me as kind of stupid. Her assistant is Ava (Kim Kardashian) who is a snotty (put expletive here). I am not sure if Ms. Kardashian had to do any acting in this film since I can totally see her saying everything that she said in this film in real life. Brice is your typical man and husband. He tries his hardest to keep Judith happy, but things are just not as exciting as Judith would like it to be. Brice works in a pharmacy and hopes to someday have his own pharmacy. Melinda (Brandy Norwood) is hired at the pharmacy and eventually becomes a major player in the story. Both Brice and Melinda work for Ms. Waco Chapman (Renee Taylor) who is the comic relief in the film. She had me cracking up. Basically, life is pretty normal and not that exciting. Along comes Harley (Robbie Jones) who is a multi-millionaire who is interested in investing in Janice's business. He is immediately smitten by Judith and the games begin. I think that the cast did an "okay" job, but I am not sure why there were so many skyline shots in the film. The film does deliver a good message, as all of Tyler Perry's films do. There is always a moral to the story and this one is no different. There is also the familiar religious aspect to the film. The one thing that I like about going to see a Tyler Perry film is that the audience reacts out loud and no one complains. I thought that the film moved at a good pace and there were a couple of twists and turns (which I totally saw coming), however the audience didn't. I looked around and thought to myself "ya'll didn't see that coming?" Apparently they did not. There were some things in the film that did not make sense to me, but I'll let you be the judge. Anyway, the film delivers a good message and for that reason I am giving it an amber light.