Tempo

a film for cast. for their money. for the opportunity for viewer to rediscover known stars. and for profound disappointment. because it is one of films about nothing. the story is not bad , the acting could be considered decent, the locations - inspired choices. but the large territories of ambiguity, the fragile/fake relations between characters, the confuse end who becomes responsibility of public,Melanie Griffith who gives only the shadow of her character are the big problems. something missing and it could be exactly the essence / soul of film. so, a film interesting only for cast. but it is not enough.

I'm quite sure that many movie watchers have seen this type of plot before, but it is always intriguing to see how the actors and actresses bring it into being. The structure is lacking, which we can heap on to the writer. The interesting thing, however, is the irony that becomes apparent within the character development.

There is a girl portrayed by the lovely Rachael Leigh Cook, who looks at herself as the portrait of American apathy and rebellion. She admits to having commited a crime while in school, and also finds herself insanely attracted to the real badass, the car booster. She is the perfect picture of what Ben Folds sings about in "Whatever and ever, Amen." The only problem is that she really isn't prepared for what bumming around with a badass brings.

Through the plot, we are allowed to watch her mature, or at least we are left with a hope that she does. Her penchant for ditching responsibility lands her in France, but then she begins to take on more and more responsibilities as time goes on. She offers to house the guy, she remembers that she forgot to lock up the shop and returns to do so, and in the end, gets rather shaken up for having been attracted to the dark side of things.

The acting is good. The actors make the pain that they suffer seem very real. Frustration, fear, anger, jealousy, and passion are all imparted to the audience. The movie didn't get boring.

The direction of the movie is rather bland, however. The shots were not spectacular, and the lighting was not memorable. There were no interesting angles, and sometimes it seemed that everyone was a little out of place.

So, in the end, this movie is more of a character study of the youth of America; how the youth like to think that they're bad, even though they probably can't handle things that are really evil.

Since Rachael Leigh Cook is one of my favorite actresses, I couldn't resist to see her latest work. I know since Josie and The Pussycats that she mostly did direct-to-video movies and indies, and that was the opportunity to see her again in a European setting...

This time, it's Paris. I was not very thrilled to see a déjà-vu subject of the love triangle, set on illegal antiques'smuggling business background, but with Rachael there, I might be in for a small treat...

The result here is partly entertaining. Eric Styles uses the flashback to tell the story as it begins in a car chase in central Paris. Mostly a story about betrayal, survival and mostly choosing between love and reason.

An antiques smuggler works for a rich mob dealer. She is sent for a contract in Germany in order to get paid and then refund a debt to another mob member. In the meanwhile, her boyfriend falls in love with a jewellers'boutique employee, Jenny. Unfortunately, when the lady smuggler comes back, she catches her lover in the act. However, her smuggling didn't do well and she must comes up with the money to reimburse the mob guy in order to save her life. For revenge, she intends to use her boyfriend's mistress naive nature for a night heist at the jewellery shop to refund her debt. Will it succeed ?

Performances are okay: Rachael Leigh Cook (with an audacious caracter going beyond the simple kiss...), Hugh Dancy and Malcolm McDowell are doing good here but Mrs. Griffith lacks the charm she had many years ago with movies like Body Double and Working Girl. Too sad for such an actress who stills have some sexy assets at her 40s...

The story's okay, and it's good fare compared to recent releases who are with big budget but with low quality.

Watch it for fun, and gaze the streets of Paris with Ms.Cook !

"Sarah James (Melanie Griffith) lives on danger's edge every day as the courier for a ruthless French black market dealer. Her boyfriend, Jack Ganzer (Hugh Dancy), is a handsome, young American expatriate she's seduced into becoming her partner in crime. But, when Jack unexpectedly meets and falls for Jenny Travile (Rachael Leigh Cook), a sexy but seemingly naive jewelry shop clerk, he quickly finds himself trapped in a treacherous love triangle filled with suspicion, vengeance, and murder. This riveting thriller will keep you guessing until the very end," according to the DVD sleeve description.

"Tempo" opens with its exciting car chase climax, then goes into flashbacks leading up to there. Possibly, they had no other way to begin this movie. Next up, you get mild erotica with Ms. Griffith, as the still sexy older woman, wrapping her legs around Mr. Dancy, as the attractive young stud. And, that's about all there is to this downhill film. The chase winds up being the culmination of an unappealing heist storyline. Only Dancy shows skin throughout. Griffith gives her character more vulnerability than the film deserves. And, Ms. Cook is almost completely, and uncharacteristically, nondescript.

**** Tempo (6/10/03) Eric Styles ~ Melanie Griffith, Hugh Dancy, Rachel Leigh Cook, Art Malik

Melanie Giffith,(Sarah),"Tart",'01, played an excellent role of a very complicated gal with all kinds of mixed emotions about her life and her past relationships with men. However, Sarah is very much sexually involved constantly with Hugh Dancy,(Jack),"Shooting Days,",'05 who is very young looking and is a mixture of gigolo and con artist. There is wild graphics and great wild sounding music in the background along with a car chase all around Paris, France; which had me thinking about Princes Diana and her car crash for some unknown reason. Rachael Leigh Cook,(Jenny Travile),"My First Wedding",'04, plays a very young inexperienced American gal who left her family and got a job in Paris and happens to run into Jack; who manages to take her "CHERRY" away from her and she goes ballistic in Love with him and can't wait to get his clothes off whenever they meet. Melanie Griffith gave a great performance, however, her addictions have taken a great toll on her beautiful face, she is showing plenty of Crows Feet around the eyes and a burned out look.