Don't Tempt Me

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=80 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="04000500dvldtc.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>Reel Movie Critic.com</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Reel Movie Critic.com"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div>                                                   </div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="041d2c00dvldtc.png"> <div> <B>Home Page for</B></div> <div> <B>      </B><A HREF="http://newbookdiscounts.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://newbookdiscounts.com/"><U><B>Books</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>           </B><A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelforless/id364.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelfor"><U><B>Travel</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>                </B><A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/"><U><B>Movies</B></U></A></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>                   </B><A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelforless/id361.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelfor"><U><B>Great Web Sites</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <B>Similar Genres</B></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/id1190.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/id1190.ht"><U><B>Comedy</B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=400 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> Don't Tempt Me</div> <div>  <iframe marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" width="120" height="150" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?o=1&l=as1&f=ifr&t=reelmoviecriticc&p=6&asins=B0000ZG0NQ&lt1=_blank"><MAP NAME="boxmap-p6"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="1, 140, 83, 150" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/reelmoviecriticc" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x150.gif" width="120" height="150" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p6" alt="Shop at Amazon.com"></iframe>  </div> <div> <IMG SRC="433f44f0.png" border=0 width="500" height="335" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="592" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="588"><div> Don't Tempt Me </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 25 WIDTH="588"><div> êê<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#CC9900" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="588"><div> <A HREF="mailto:info@reelmoviecritic.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:info@reelmoviecritic.com"><U><U>Reviewed by Lee Shoquist</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> In <B>Don't Tempt Me</B>, an ambitious new comedy about Heaven and Hell - personified here as corporate rivals in contemporary Europe - two opposing angels vie for the soul of an Earthbound, debt-ridden boxer.  Sexual politics fly in a film that, while over-plotted and muddled, manages a bit of goodwill if not good drama.  </div> <bR> <div> Both Heaven and Hell have fallen on hard times.   Depicted here as cutthroat business competitors each bent on recruiting the soul of hapless prizefighter Manny (Demian Bichir), both camps are on the verge of collapse and view winning his soul as a lynchpin for revival.   </div> <bR> <div> As the film opens, Heaven's COO (Fanny Ardant) and Hell's number one "businessman" (Gael Garcia Bernal) set things in motion by recruiting their star players to compete for down-on-his-luck Manny's spiritual livelihood.  </div> <bR> <div> In a fiery steam kitchen cafeteria in Hell - which is depicted as a dark, English-speaking jail - Carmen Ramos (Penelope Cruz) is a sexed-up waitress and former male gangster transformed into a female agent, now in service of "the boss."  Upstairs in a luscious, black-and-white Parisian, French-speaking Heaven, Lola Nevado (Victoria Abril) is a slinky dinner club chanteuse, who spends her nights purring provocatively to endlessly adoring crowds.   These two lovelies return to Earth and set the stage for a comedic clash of wills and sexes that never coalesces.  </div> <bR> <div> While much of <B>Don't Tempt Me</B> is quite enjoyable for its aesthetic and performances, we're never given much reason to invest any interest in Manny, who radiates little intelligence or heart.  He's not really a character - he's a character description, really: a tough, macho louse.  There's nothing special about him, and his moral conundrums aren't well developed.  There's not enough chemistry between the leads and the film never soars - it barely even takes off; hamstrung by its allegiance to its complicated plotting and increasingly impressed with its own cleverness.  </div> <bR> <div> It's too bad the film doesn't ultimately work, because it certainly has its share of moments in which the two actresses sizzle with aplomb.  And though this trumped-up battle of the sexes, and tongue-in-cheek duel between good and evil ends in a typically ironic and bloody shootout, before we arrive there, <B>Don't Tempt Me</B> has some rare moments of great enjoyment. Memorable is Cruz slinking around with abandon to the 70s hit "Kung Fu Fighting," while dressing to go out on the town.    </div> <bR> <div> Spanish-born Abril, the sensual European star, who cut her teeth on some of Almodovar's lesser works like <B>Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down</B> and <B>High Heels</B>, and then came into her own with sexy dramatic and comedic turns in <B>Lovers</B> and<B> French Twist</B>, is cast against type here.  As Lola, the heavenly big-band singer turned supermarket check-out girl, Abril's trademark erotic intelligence is buried mostly under the radar screen, cloaked in a low-key character who never fully comes to life outside of her nightclub crooning scenes, stuck in the backseat with the more conservative of the two lead roles.  </div> <bR> <div> It's Cruz who owns the film, and that's really saying something with as top-notch an international cast as featured here.  Though she never has captured American audiences when she performs in English-language films, in her native tongue she performs with conviction, and layers her fallen angel with a raunchy and aggressive physicality that's spirited and fun to watch.  </div> <bR> <div> Two superior talents - venerable, glamorous French actress Fanny Ardant (<B>8 Women</B>, <B>Ridicule</B>, <B>Elizabeth</B>) and wild-card Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal (<B>Amores Perros</B>, <B>Y tu Mama Tambien</B>, <B>El Crimen del Padre Amaro</B>) are both criminally underused here in their roles as recruitment agents for Heaven and Hell, respectively.   Both are very different yet effective actors in other places, but here they're suffocated by material that's gimmicky and too clever by half.  </div> <bR> <div> Demian Bichir, a swaggering image of misdirected machismo - is just about right as Manny, but the role is narrowly conceived and never comes to life.  You can't believe these angels are battling for the soul of such a soulless cad, much the way you might watch TV's <I>Joe Millionaire</I> and question why so many compete for so little.   Prolific British actress Gemma Jones turns up in an extended and humorous cameo as Hell's counterpart to Judi Dench's M in the James Bond films of late.  </div> <bR> <div> Writer/director Agustin Diaz Yanes infuses witty detail into the intricacies of the Heaven and Hell ("Can we get an air conditioner in here?") premise, and it shows - there are some inspired observations as Heaven realizes that, at least in contemporary society, they're losing the modern moral war to their southernmost counterpart.  And to Hell, it's like running corporate business as usual.  </div> <bR> <div> Ultimately this is a film about a clever idea, not about characters, growth and interaction. And though the galvanic Cruz can't single-handedly save the film, she's pure charisma to watch.   </div> <bR> <div> For all its ambitious imaginings and attractive star turns, <B>Don't Tempt Me</B> is little more than a colorfully over-plotted stunt that never becomes as clever or engaging as it aims to be.  It's diverting all right, just not exactly memorable.  </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="592" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> 108 Minutes</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> Rated R</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> Violence, Language, Sensuality</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> In French, Spanish and English</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div>  </div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="621" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="617"><div> <B>Lee Shoquist © 2003</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="617"><div> <A HREF="mailto:info@reelmoviecritic.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:info@reelmoviecritic.com"><U><U>Leeshoquist.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>