The Temp (1993) User Reviews (31)

Guilty Pleasures....

[rondine · 6/10 · 7 August 2005]

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.

Hacking your way up the corporate ladder....

[bob_meg · 6/10 · 29 December 2008]

I'm relieved to see I'm not the only one who finds pleasure in this cunning little trifle from "Fright Night" director Tom Holland.

Yes, it's a blank-from-hell picture and yes also, the blank in question happens to be a secretary/admin assistant (amazing how much mileage this particular career gets in this role), but "The Temp" jazzs up the stakes by making the stalkee --- in this case ad man Peter Derns (Timothy Hutton) --- a paranoid head case with anger management problems.

Lara Flynn Boyle of Twin Peaks fame plays the stalker with a mix of innocence and deliberateness that suggests a truly unhinged personality waiting to detonate. Watching her manipulate and provoke Hutton's character provides for some sick thrills --- it's like tormenting a wounded insect only the insect probably has more going on upstairs.

The plot is cheesy, for sure, but the script always keeps you watching. The dialogue is smooth for the most part and even when it borders on camp, it's not so over the line that it breaks the spell (until near the end when some of the action gets a bit superhero-ish).

Despite being a fun ride, "The Temp" suffers from one of the lamest closing lines ever (tied with "Get a Life" from "Sliver") but even that will give you a little chuckle. And there's worse things to get from grade B thrillers.

Where's my coffee?

[xredgarnetx · 6/10 · 10 March 2007]

THE TEMP is one of those glossy 90s office thrillers that you can watch with one eye closed, walk away from it for a few minutes, come back to it and not miss a thing. Michael Douglas made one of these as well, 1994's DISCLOSURE. Lara Flynn Boyle, the main reason for watching this, plays a nutjob temp who fills in for corporate exec Tim Hutton's regular secretary. Pretty soon, his in-office competitors and acquaintances are dropping like flies, and the very existence of the company is threatened -- all thanks to the evil machinations of the delectable and obsessed Ms. Boyle, who is lots of fun to watch as she slithers about and whispers dire warnings in her boss' ear. Hutton perhaps plays his part a little too straight, but old-timer Faye Dunaway as the beleaguered company head tears up the scenery in every one of her too-few scenes. Dunaway at least knows when she's working a turkey jerky. Try watching Boyle and not think of her in WAYNE'S WORLD, by the way. She played a similar nutjob in that comedy classic.

Getting your expectations right...

[cmc283_ou · 26 September 2001]

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...

Another lazy writer

[Sam-953-169285 · 4/10 · 18 March 2018]

The movie begins with Peter Derns (Timothy Hutton) talking with someone but we never see who. It is probably a psychologist but we don't know. One of the things he talks about is paranoia I think. He does have problems with paranoia during the show.

I was hoping to see some of the love and romance from Lara Flynn Boyle that she is capable of but her character Kris Bolin does not show that. Kris Bolin however is not evil and calculating; only a guilty person would be.

The movie is a mystery. It keeps us wondering who did it. There are many things that are done, such as sabotage and for some of them there are not clear answers to who done them.

Unfortunately this is another story where the writers do not play fair. I really think that if you knew at the beginning how it will end then there are times you would think it is ridiculous that the person would do what they do.

I like that Peter Derns treats Kris Bolin as an equal as much as he does.. He wants to get back together with his wife (they are separated and I think that is implied at the beginning of the movie) and behaves accordingly. I like Maura Tierney as the understanding and tolerant wife but the wife is not in the movie a lot.

Glamour Befalls You...

[PredragReviews · 7/10 · 12 November 2016]

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.

The horror of paper cuts!!

[Coventry · 3/10 · 19 August 2005]

Tame, unoriginal, forgettable, bloodless and boooooooring 90's thriller, set on the management floor of a cookie-factory. The plot is routine thriller material without surprises and the movie still attempts to cash in on the success formula of "Fatal Attraction", which was made half a decade earlier. Peter Derns is an executive and former mental patient (great combination) who receives a beautiful temporary assistant to bridge a stressful period. She – the gorgeous Lara Flynn Boyle – immediately proves herself useful and she even gives good input for the company's newest project. But of course she becomes a little too obsessed with her boss and career, and pretty soon other rival executives start to die in mysterious circumstances. Very convenient if you want to climb up the company-ladder, but nevertheless suspicious. "The Temp" is one of those countless early 90's thrillers that introduce femme fatales as dangerous psychopaths (other examples being "Single White Female", "The Crush" and "The Secretary") but this premise actually is pretty weak and overly predictable. The screenplay features a series of clichés, typically lame office-humor and really ALL the characters are annoying stereotypes. There's nothing even remotely interesting about this film and the downright lousy ending will make you regret sitting through it even more.

Standard, watchable thriller.

[gridoon · 6/10 · 29 April 2001]

A standardized psychological thriller, in the "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle" mold; we have yet another female character that seduces the men with her attractiveness and at first appears to be incredibly genial and helpful, but gradually turns into a possessive, obsessive person, ready to try anything to achieve her goals. The film is overly predictable and long but fairly entertaining. Lara Flynn Boyle is not quite up to the level we'd like her to be, but Timothy Hutton is an effortlessly likable actor, easy to identify with. (**)

If a movie could win an award by being weird and by the numbers simultaneously The Temp would win hands down.

[triple8 · 3/10 · 4 September 2005]

SPOILERS THROUGHOUT:

The Temp is a by the numbers "stalker genre" Movie similar to movies like Single White female, Fatal Attraction and Swim Fan-which I had the privilege of seeing not that long ago. It's also not very good. Actually it's, while not unwatchable, pretty unoriginal in the way the story goes but I doubt when they made this, originality was the main thing they were aiming for.

The two things I noticed with this movie were: first, the movie (for the beginning and middle) plays like any other stalker movie and actually becomes almost dull at times. There's really nothing here that hasn't been done a million times and The Temp doesn't do it in such a way that one is glued to the screen. The second thing I noticed is that "twists" are introduced which in this movie's case, is not a good thing, because most of them don't make any sense and the movie plays in such a way that by the end one is more baffled then intrigued.

The movie also had an opportunity after one of the twists to go in a rather interesting direction but it doesn't happen. The whole scene at the end with the chases in the factory was just to much and I'm not sure if the final twist in the last few minutes was supposed to be clever but all it made me do was think: CMON! By the end of the movie The Temp has become to jumbled and over the top to be interesting. It's not the performers who were fine. But the movie itself didn't seem to try to hard and was alternatively run of the mill and over the top weird. This isn't the worst of the Worst but it isn't very enjoyable. My vote's 3 of 10.

Flawed but Fun

[dansview · 7/10 · 15 December 2012]

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.

Ludicrous But Entertaining Enough

[Theo Robertson · 5/10 · 30 July 2003]

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

Predictable but good fun for 50 eurocents!!

[vinnie_hans · 8/10 · 3 December 2002]

I found this video in an ex-rental shop, i had never heard of it and bought it for 50 eurocents. When i came home and searched on how people voted for this film. The average vote was not encouraging so i left it on the shelf for months. When i decided to watch it, it was surprisingly good. Not a classic and sometimes very predictable, but never dull. Good performances by the leading characters, especially Laura Flynn Boyle and Faye Dunaway. I rate this film 8 out 0f 10.

I bought this solely because I remember LFB being like a Goddess in this

[selfdestructo · 6/10 · 28 July 2022]

Haven't seen it since the 90's, I think it's a good thriller? Well, watching it tonight was somewhat disappointing, as I found some real problematic elements. (Not you, Lara. You're alright with me, cookie! I mean, back in her day, Yikes!).

First of all, the framework of this story is so innocuous and dull, only a major studio would "approve" and release a premise so mind-numbing (there was a purpose behind this, check out the extras, Paramount insisted on changes). Competing corporate cookie companies? And all the corporate dirtbags trying to climb their way to the top? I will say, this much was effective: It makes you root for the villain (murderous, backstabbing, psychotic, lying, super-vixen, "The Temp," Kris, played by Lara Flynn Boyle). Great character and performance. Everyone else in the movie essentially plays the same character, and that includes Peter (Timothy Hutton). Synopsis above says he's a "nice guy." No he's not, he comes off as just another jerk. Though, credit the screenwriter, he is written with a psychological history of paranoia. This is the one and only element that makes this character, inside this story, interesting.

*SPOILER* The final, I dunno, 20 minutes is a contrived mess. And some of it I couldn't make heads or tails of. Ok, someone messed with Kris' brakes to try and kill her. In the trivia below, it says Faye Dunaway didn't want her image tarnished (in what is an out of left field, nonsensical ending), so they tacked on another switcheroo ending. So, because the movie ends the way it does, it makes no sense for someone to tamper with Kris' brakes. They needed MORE reshooting, because that's a major blunder.

To be honest, I was confused with all of what transpired after Peter and Kris skid to a halt. Afterward, apparently they shack up in some extravigant hotel? They have a discussion, and Peter says they'll pick up in the morning. Cut to: Peter getting out of the shower to answer the phone?! What in the F did I just miss? Did Kris spend the night? Did they sleep together? Did she get her car fixed?! Seems like this crucial plot point was just ignored. He gets called to the bakery, yadda yadda yadda, major studio mess, and let's wrap this up in a totally nonsensical manner. How did Kris wind up there? Where was she? People battling it out in a factory. What led this character-driven corporate thriller to a fight in a plant?

What I felt really worked in this movie was the character of The Temp, and the mysteries surrounding her and/or her nefarious intentions, paired with Peter's (re-) onset paranoia, where he constantly has to question all these bizarre occurrences (of which the temp always has an answer for). Some extraneous nonsense (and flat-out boredom) bring this potentially intriguing thriller down a few notches.

Blu-ray extras: ...are very telling. According to the director, special effects, and editor, The Temp was supposed to be an entirely different movie. It was written, directed, shot, and edited as a dark comedy horror/thriller. The head of Paramount changed hands, wanted a straight-up thriller, and forced them to completely re-tool it within 2 weeks. It's pretty amazing to listen to, as none of these three have anything good to say about the final result. Almost all the special effects were cut out, the factory scene was gutted, and they completely changed the ending. Definitely watch the interviews if you think this was a swing and a miss, it's got studio interference written all over it.

Corporate gain, corporate loss.

[lost-in-limbo · 5/10 · 22 September 2007]

Peter Derns an executive at Mrs. Appleby's cookie company wants to move up the chain, but his finding it hard and his marketing just isn't working. However when his new temp Kris Bolin arrives, she proves not only she's beautiful but very efficient in her job and helps him successfully with his campaign. But there's something not quite right about her intentions, which Peter starts picking up on and some executives fall to mysterious deaths. Is it all in his head, all is Kris really behind all of this.

Director Tom Holland has such films behind him like "Fright Night", "Child's Play" and "Thinner", but this sedate (and tame) psycho-thriller really does pale in comparison to those fun flicks. Holland's competently assured direction makes slick work of this lifeless and mechanically structured premise that never really takes off even with such a deviously twisted idea. Because of Holland's panache and a terrific cast (Faye Dunaway is great!), it stays effectively watchable. It's just too bad that studio interference in the editing side damaged just what could've been. The theme is all about playing on the twisty paranoia and lurking competition for success, but it goes on to lack that real daring and dark edge like a knife in the back. It sets itself in taut confines, and can feel rather calmly. The wordy script goes about things in quite an unbalanced frame, with an almost tongue-in-cheek style getting caught up in the serious moments. The two never really level out. Fredric Talgorn's music score is generically jarring, but suitable and Steve Yaconelli's sharply lensed photography and lighting placement is ably done for the right effect. Timothy Hutton is perfectly cast, and the excellent Lara Flynn Boyle is rapturously sexy and cunning to the bone. There's quite an intriguingly unpredictable pattern to Hutton and Boyle's mind-screwing relationship. This is where most of the pressure filled and sexual tension arises from. Oliver Platt appears, but seems wasted in an insignificant part as a slimy executive.

Lukewarm thriller that never finds its way out of its artificial mould and ends rather abruptly.

Bizarre, campy thriller

[80sChild · 4 August 1999]

I remember wanting to see this when I was 13 back in 1993 because it looked so bad! Six years later, I rented it and sure enough, it was so bad it's good! It stars Lara Flynn Boyle (The Practice) as a quirky, femme fatale who causes problems for the people around her. Although the movie was well cast and put together well, there really was no point to it! It never really went into Boyle's character's personality, about WHY she was so strange! Overall, I'd rent this just for entertainment, not for a good thriller! Sure to become a 1990s cult classic. ~CosmicGirl.

The Temp has low budget acting

[mijtaylor · 5/10 · 19 April 2024]

The woman playing the temp is a heinous unlady like heifer. My friend and I laughed our butts off at how entertaining it was to see such repulsive acting. The lady playing tgectemp dressed like a darn hooked for her Jon for goodness sake. Even more enriching was the scene where she says "omg it's so hot in here!" Then proceeds to fan herself and jiggle her fat nasty pit bull boobies for the works to stare at. That's terrible acting. She's literally a heifer with ZERO ETIQUETTE. This movie is far from a thriller. We found it hilarious if anything! So...ladies if you have make friends..pop some popcorn, sit your male friends in front of the TV screen and tell him to prepare to drool and laugh at the same time.

Honestly, we are getting very tired of the low budget acting in these free movies on Tubi. It's as though the screen writers and directors drive thru the ghettos of all places and look for the trashes uneducated people they can locate so thst they don't have to spend much money paying people to act in these very low budget dumb movies.

That woman is stupid as all hell🤣🤣🤣

Better than usual t.v. flick

[caa821 · 7/10 · 10 March 2007]

If you haven't seen "Can't Stop the Music," starring Bruce Jenner, The Village People, and a host of "B" flick personalities from multiple generations, please take it in at first opportunity. It's my all-time favorite "guilty pleasure" movie, but unlike this one, is truly so bad, so over-the-top and loony it's moved on the dial past "0" and to "10" in its awfulness.

This picture, for me (as with others who've commented here) also falls into the "guilty pleasure" classification.

Nothing new for Fay Dunaway; she is attractive, but gnaws the scenery like a horde of beavers.

And this entire crew in the featured business enterprise, including Hutton and Boyle with their supporting players, would have trouble running a Junior Achievement project, say, where the kids were selling glove compartment emergency kits, or carriers for your television directory and remote control - much less engaging in big-time corporate strategies. Throughout the film, this thought held almost as much fascination for me as the plot and performances.

Another fringe benefit of a presentation like this one is that if you're interrupted, or have to leave for a brief chore or errand, there is no problem picking it up when you return.

The attractiveness of the cast, and the quality of their talents and resumés, is a few notches above those normally found in this type of t.v. film -- so this is another plus, which makes it perhaps 7*, instead of the 3 to 5 it would otherwise merit.

An exercise in mass confusion

[Ravenloftrealm · 4/10 · 26 September 2022]

Peter Derns is a schnook who allows everyone to walk all over him. His new secretary, Kris Bolin, has ten times his savvy and brains and gets him out of one jam after another and even takes measures that get Peter moving forward in the cookie company. Suddenly, people start dying mysteriously and the movie switches gears and becomes a thriller. Peter of the small brain starts pouting, complaining and constantly losing his temper. He suspects Kris is the murderer and works to expose her. Meanwhile, Kris saves Peter from being fired and they are BOTH in a car on a mounain road when the brakes go. The whole murder plot is mindboggling and comes out of nowhere. The producers forced the director to change the ending, which only further buries the film in a sea of chaos. One thing is certain; the Peter Derns character is the ultimate moron whose behavior is immature, petty and snobby from start to finish.

CHEER! - (7 stars out of 10)

[BJG-Reviews · 7/10 · 12 November 2019]

The stage curtains open ...

Was this a good movie? No, not really. LOL - Did I like this movie? Yeah! I did. I liked it a lot! This film catches our actors in their prime - Timothy Hutton, Lara Flynn Boyle and others like Oliver Platt, Faye Dunaway, Maura Tierney and Steven Weber were solid in their supportive roles. It was also helmed by director, Tom Holland who brought us the original "Fright Night", "Child's Play", and the Stephen King adaptation of "Thinner". So, I knew I had to see it.

Our story starts when an executive, Peter Derns (Hutton), for an Oregon cookie company needs help from a temp agency because his secretary has to leave suddenly to have a baby. What he gets in return is a deliciously devilish temp, Kris Bolin (Boyle), who is as efficient and cunning as she is beautiful. The attraction between them is instant, putting Peter on edge most of the time since he is working to save his marriage. It doesn't take Peter, and others around him, long to find out that Kris has a hidden agenda and that she is not who she appears to be. Unfortunate "accidents" begin to happen and secrets are uncovered.

What really holds this early 90's thriller vehicle together is the chemistry that develops between our two main characters onscreen. Lara Flynn Boyle really invests herself into her role and I feel the other actors fed off of that - which is probably what saves this movie from being a complete dud. I believe she had fun playing the devious, twisted and secretive temp and that makes this a fun film to watch.

The ending is anti-climactic, I will admit that, but I still enjoyed the movie overall. It was more about the journey than the ending anyway. A total and complete guilty pleasure. I have no problem recommending this film to anyone who enjoys that kind of thing. This, in all fairness, probably catches Lara Flynn Boyle at her best.

This had promise... destroys itself in the end.

[melissa.ricks · 5/10 · 3 April 2001]

I really enjoyed this movie and the possible plot twists, but they don't really happen. And the wrap it up quick ending was more than irritating.

However, I was glued to the screen.... I enjoyed Tim Hutton's performance. Boyle was superb as the ambitious, ruthless fem fatale. But when did Faye Dunaway become a caricature of herself? I guess ever since Mommy Dearest. I rate the movie a 4 out of 10. It was a 6 until the ending. But it does have the qualities of a Cult Classic. I'll be interested to see how it ages. The writing won't improve with age, but the camp might.

Water cooler killer

[drownsoda90 · 6/10 · 10 November 2019]

"The Temp" follows a young businessman (Timothy Hutton) who is recently divorced and struggling with extreme paranoia. The arrival of a new temp worker (Lara Flynn Boyle) in his office at first seems to be a help, but soon becomes a hindrance when a series of accidents and mishaps occur at the company.

From the plot summary, "The Temp" probably sounds like a fun, kitschy thriller in the best of '90s fashions--and in some ways, it is. The film is in the same vein as "Basic Instinct" or "Black Widow," but has far less twists and turns, which may be its biggest sin. The general setup here could have been mined for fantastic moments between Hutton's paranoid businessman and Boyle's mysterious femme fatale, but the screenplay unfortunately is slim on this. Director Tom Holland ("Child's Play," "Fright Night") does a solid job with what he has to work with, but there are tonal problems with the film that leave it feeling unbalanced at times--the sense of threat waxes and wanes, and at times it just feels like an office drama (which is not good for a thriller).

The performances here are solid, with Hutton making a likable leading man, and Boyle mildly effective and non-threatening (which I suppose is the point). Faye Dunaway plays Hutton's ruthless boss, and ranges from serviceable to utterly campy. The film is shot beautifully, and the locales are great--part of the reason I wanted to watch the film was that it was shot in my hometown, and it does serve as a time capsule of what the city looked like when I was a child.

Overall, "The Temp" is good fun if you take it on the terms of it being an artifact of glossy early '90s neo-noir revival films. It is well-shot and competently acted, although it suffers from a general lack of threat or surprise, so the stakes never really feel present. If you can accept its shallowness, it is a mildly fun popcorn movie. 6/10.

Gosh...I thought I was the only person that liked this movie

[LarryBrownHouston · 8/10 · 17 March 2006]

**** REVIEW INCLUDES "GREAT DIALOG" SPOILERS ****

Wow was I surprised to see all the positive reviews of this movie here. I thought I was alone in being entertained by this. External reviews often completely trash this movie without finding anything positive.

Well get this chemical makeup: 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 (Hand that rocks the cradle, Single White Female, many more), 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?

Actually I really like this movie, even just watching it straight. The only problem I have is Faye Dunaway's really bad, hammy, mugging acting, and toward the end Boyle picks up some of the same style, but other than that I like it. However, if you make me analyze it, OK, it's riddled with plot holes, dropped threads, unanswered questions, implausibilities, etc, but that really doesn't matter if the movie succeeds in entertaining me. And it does. So with that in mind, you could look at it as one of the "so bad it's good" genre, and it does succeed on that level. I agree with others that the ending seems as tho it was written on the spot when someone lost the rest of the script.

It actually has a lot of good stuff in it. For example:

One of my favorite literary devices is the "buddy thing," which is an entertainment staple: Laurel and Hardy, Skipper and Gilligan, Kip and friend in Bosom Buddies, Balky and Larry in "Perfect Strangers," etc. This movie features that, but in four directions: Hutton and his boss, Hutton and his buddy (Webber), Hutton and his rival (Platt), Hutton and Boyle. Lots of fun there.

The highlight for me is some of the whacky dialog, which I'm still quoting years later. For example: "You're BLOWIN' it man." "YOU'VE GOT THIS PROBLEM." And one of the greatest lines ever: "Good gosh how hard can it be? I'm not asking you to splice DNA you just DO IT!"

Wonderful stuff.

Finally, it's no surprise that Hutton and Platt both turn in performances that are well worth watching.

I would have liked to give this movie a 10, because it's really one of my favorites, but I couldn't do that in good conscience, so I had to go easy on the superlative.

Almost good

[Mister8tch · 4/10 · 25 June 2014]

This movie has all the trappings to be a sexy thriller in the vein of Basic Instinct, Fatal Attraction, Body of Evidence, but it misses on three counts....

1. Lara Flynn Boyle (who I adored in The Practice) does not have the chops to play a character that Sharon Stone, Glenn Close and Madonna cornered in their respective turns.

2. Faye Dunaway is so over the top that we actually applaud her final outcome.

3. The ending is just terrible. You are waiting for something more fun and climactic, but since Hutton's character was such a goody-goody, not much else is realistically possible.

This film grips you at points, but when it's over, you just wonder why you wasted your time.

Not worth the effort

[mnwcsult · 1/10 · 26 November 2007]

Sat through this with the wife, overly long, dull, insane situations, add nonsensical ending and the cable TV rating of 1 (one) star is generous. Skip it.

Silly plot, Predictable, Drama none, Boring, Long, most of it should have been left on the cutting room floor. Ending, how lame was that, the women had killed or maimed several co-workers and the CEO. She is told to clean out her desk and leave. What was that?

Should have known better, it was on Lifetime Movie Network (LMN) formerly Lifetime the network for women. The Simpson had it right, the Network for stupid people.

I prefer stories with many plot threads, twists, events you cannot foresee.

The Temp is right out of the Dummies Guide to Movie making, page 2.

Another of those great psychological thrillers from the 1990s

[bellino-angelo2014 · 8/10 · 31 August 2023]

THE TEMP intrigued me from quite some time. Not just because I am a fan of Timothy Hutton but also because it has a low score of 5,2 (when I saw it two months ago it was 5,1) and only 28 reviews mostly negative. Last June I finally saw it and, to my surprise, I liked it very much and couldn't see the same things most of the reviewers saw in this one.

Peter Derns (Hutton) is a young executive in an advertising company that is tasked by his boss Charlene (Faye Dunaway) to make a new ad for a brand of cookies and of cookie jars but since Peter has been treated recently from paranoia he is afraid of not making the deadline in time: to his surprise he is assigned a freshly graduated secretary named Kris Brolin (Lara Flynn Boyle). As you might have guessed, not everything goes smoothly, especially when one employee has a trouble with the paper shredder, Peter's rival Hartsell (Oliver Platt) is found dead with a wasp sting in his car and another employee is found hanging in his office apparently suicide but surprisingly enough, all these deaths give him unexpected promotions.

Thinking he has been framed and gaslit Peter investigates on Kris and whey they go on route to a bakery, Peter's brakes have been tampered but nonetheless he manages to arrive safe to an hotel and check in, and soon he is called for an emergency at the bakery: once there at night Peter finds a dead security guard and Kris that looks like she has suffered a concussion. He is suddenly hit in the head by an unseen assailant and Charlene and Kris fight to the point that Charlene falls from a plank to her death. Months later Peter is made president of the company and after confronting Kris one last time he realizes that she is no other than a master manipulator and sociopath who probably staged the bakery accident for killing himself along with Charlene, and for getting rid of Kris once and for all Peter orders security for taking her out.

I felt in the minority when I looked the reviews for this because it's actually very good. The acting was very good, not surprising with Timothy Hutton, Faye Dunaway and Oliver Platt. And, just like many other thrillers of the 1990s, it has lots of suspense moments: I especially loved the parts of the car with the broken brakes and the bakery part at night, the latter was kinda gloomy. And when it was over... I felt better for Peter because he finally understood that Kris wanted to ruin from the start.

If you stumble upon it give it a try because if you are into 1990s thrillers or obscure movies you might actually like it like I did. And don't trust most of the reviews before seeing it.