cristina-trsl

The movie itself would have been OK, but what ruined it for me was that it seemed like a remake of Something New. Same actress (!!), same topic, with the small difference that in this one, the accent is mostly on hair, and less on clothes, status, etc. Violet and Kenya both have mothers who pressure them into looking flawless, they both have successful but demanding jobs, they both seek a relationship with a succesful man (a requirement imposed mostly by family), and they both figure out who they really are by the end of the movie. There was literally no need for 2 movies with story lines so similar.

In what was supposed to be a teen romance, they cast a guy who looks like a 20-year old gigolo alongside a girl who looks 16, have him feed her cheesy lines to get her in bed, and somehow try to convince us that it's a great love story. Oh, and they don't have any chemistry, which gives it even more Lolita vibes. Other than that, cliché lines and cliché scenes, basically, all the unrealistic and unimaginative romance stuff you have already seen in a hundred other movies, delivered in a boring way. And all the alleged comedy consists in the girl repeatedly showing her underwear to the same bunch of guys. Because there wasn't enough of that in the world. I haven't seen anything this bad in a long long time, it was truly disappointing. And what is worse, there are people who think it's brilliant.

Looking through other reviews, I see a lot of people unhappy with the ending, but I think they fail to see the whole point of Sam's repeated day. It's not about her having to solve something that would lead to a different outcome, because she was supposed to die anyway. It's really about her getting a chance to leave the people she loves with good memories and tie up some loose ends before she dies. If you think of it, it's really a gift, not a punishment. She gets to tell her family and friends she loves them, implant beautiful last memories, save a girl's life (not by offering her own instead, because she was supposed to die either way) and leave the boy who always loved her with the knowledge that she loved him back. How many people get that chance? If she hadn't gotten her repeat day, she would have left lousy or meaningless memories of herself to everyone. In the end, she understands this and no longer tries to find a way to get out of the loop. So I get that a movie like this can leave you angry about the ending, but actually it couldn't have ended better. Oh, and I don't think it's a movie only meant for teenagers (except for the soundtrack, of course).

Despite the beautiful setting, despite gorgeous Jason Momoa being in it, this film was basically a total waste of resources and the world could have done just fine without it.

Virginia Madsen did a horrible job with her role, it seemed like she was sleepwalking through the whole film, delivering lines as if she was reading them for the first time, no expression on her face, no feelings, no nothing.

The scene where she argues with her daughter has the most ridiculous dialogue, with Emma delivering lines you would expect from a child, not a mother. And her acting was also like she was playing a spoiled brat.

You would expect Emma to have a more passionate reaction to a man looking like Kala, but he didn't seem to do much for her. And why a guy like that would have been interested in her, I can't say. Assuming he's a deep, mature guy, who's not going for looks, it still doesn't make sense, as her character seems very shallow and childish.

Finally, why they would call "Tempted" a film that focuses so little on the temptation/affair part (not even one hot or sexy scene) is beyond me. If that was the main plot, I couldn't tell. Emma finding her real mother and the efforts to save the Hawaiian family's lands seemed just as important, and all three were treated shallowly. It's a shame that the actors who possessed some talent were given such a bad script and such bland lines, but I think the main problem was with the lead actress.

Overall, a very bad film.

I'll start by saying that I didn't hate this movie, although it was filled with clichés and unlikely events, and followed the plot of any other Hallmark movie (it's almost the same story as in October Kiss, except that this time it's Christmas, not Halloween). After all, it was so glittery, colorful and filled with Christmas cheer, that many things didn't matter so much. So I pretended that it was normal for a personal shopper to go over her client's indications and buy on his behalf the gifts she thought were appropriate (who cares what the client wants), regardless of how much they cost (after all, the client seemed to afford it). But what I had a problem with was the whole widower background of the male character. Supposedly, his wife died recently enough for him to still be upset about it, but she's been dead long enough for him to have a serious girlfriend / potential fiancé - so I would say, 2-3 years ago. His child, who is supposed to be 8 years old (although he seems younger), has memories of many Christmases spent with his mom and dad at a little cottage, but he says that for the past few years (after the mother died), they don't go there for Christmas anymore. It would be highly unlikely that a kid that young would remember not one, but many Christmases with his family, that happened at least 2-3 years before the present day (so when he was 5-6 years old and younger). I would buy it if it was one Christmas, but not "we used to do this every year, and then...". Other than that, it was just another Hallmark holiday movie, with all the usual items (nobody worries about the money when it comes to expensive gifts and holiday decorations, quirky girl changes the grumpy guy in just a few days, both lead actors have great voices and do a perfect duet singing a carol, snow starts to fall just at the right moment, etc., etc.).