Temptation 2013

Director

Tyler Perry (Diary of a Mad Black Woman)

Writer

Tyler Perry

Notable Actors

Journee Smollet-Bell (Eve's Bayou)

Brandy Norwood (Moesha)

Lance Gross (other Tyler Perry stuff)

((SPOILERS))

Tyler Perry lives in a fantasy world. In this world the wicked always suffer. The good guy gets the happy ending and the cheating wife ends up lonely with Aids. 

Their are some elements I actually like about Temptation, the first half is pretty tolerable. Judith (played by the gorgeous Smollet-Bell) is a young, college educated woman, married to her childhood sweet-heart. They live in a small, rundown apartment, share one old pick up truck but have dreams for their careers. Brice, her husband wants to own his own pharmacy someday, naturally he works in a pharmacy. Judith wants to be a marriage counselor so she works for a high class match maker (makes sense). Her boss, the Madame is played by Vanessa Williams, with a horrible french accent. We are told that Judith is the "in house counselor" but whatever that is doesn't translate to anything tangible. Kim Kardashian is in this film and I must say their are way more offensive things than her to deal with. Kim is Ava, a sex-pot with impeccable taste, shoes and makeup, she's Judith's bitchy coworker. This isn't really a stretch for Kim so it actually works. There is one line that comes out extremely clunky though

"...he's only the largest social media inventor since Zuckerberg." 

ugh, and they put that line IN THE TRAILER. 

As far as starting to examine a marriage between two young people (writer and director)Tyler Perry was on the right track. He attempts to ask real questions about marrying your first love and how things may be if you spend your entire life with only one person. In Judith's case she ends up wanting something else that she never knew she needed until she met Harley. Harley is this big social media guy, I guess. He's rich and is thinking of investing in the match making  company. Makes no sense why but here he is. Also makes no sense why he would need to talk to Judith the "counselor" about figures and the different tech things but he does. It's also only Judith's third week at this company but I guess she can handle this huge mutli-million dollar account. Harley and Judith begin to grow close during their time together. She shares things about her home life and her marriage. When Harley learns she's married to the only man she's ever been with, he uses that information to his advantage. He has her questioning everything her and her husband built and longing for something she's never had. An adventure with another man. It doesn't help that Brice turns out to be pretty thick in the head. Apparently he's boring in bed, doesn't defend  Judith against cat-calls and forgets her birthday two years in a row. I don't even see how that's possible, and I don't care how busy they both are. I also don't get what Perry is driving at, is he trying to give her justification for having a wandering eye? She doesn't need her husband to be a jerk to want to cheat. But one can't really blame Judith for feeling undesired. It seems as if Brice played Judith right into Harleys' arms which is what Perry wants. 

Brice has his own test, I suppose, going on at his job. A young woman named Melinda (played by Brandy) just came to town and began working at the pharmacy. She seems reserved and mysterious and their is this whole "mystery" to find out what her story is, I guessed it immediately.

Judith and Harley's work relationship soon enter dangerous territory. They have sexual conversations inappropriate for a married woman. She tries to see him outside of work and she emotionally is already cheating, they have already gone too far. Harley requests to have Judith accompany him on his private plane to take a trip for the business (it's so stupid). She knows it will lead to something intimate and feels wrong about accepting the invite. Her boss pressures her and instead of quitting and telling her husband the truth she goes. She has sex with Harley and Perry doesn't even give us what we all want, a steamy sex scene. We see Judith come home (Harley drops her off in his red corvette as her mother and husband gape at them both. ) Judith looks guilty as hell and cries in the shower. Only then do we get flashbacks of their tryst which happened on the plane. Its very much like  the movie  Unfaithful(2002) which I'm sure Tyler Perry used as "inspiration". In that movie the star Diane Lane, is on the train ride home and we see flash backs of her cheating and in real time her feeling disgusted , horrified and yet turned on by the sexual act she just had with a man that's not her husband. Sorry Tyler Unfaithful did it better.
 Had Judith been guilty and told her husband what happened and then they were left to pick up the pieces of their marriage I may have liked it. Instead she starts a full on affair and immediately starts doing drugs with Harley. Her mother, a god-fearing woman, notices her daughters change at once. She refers to Harley as the Devil pointing out that his car is red. Mama even says

"That man is gonna take you straight to hell."

and he does. If Hell is the equivalent of fancy designer clothes, drugs, clubs and not putting a comb through her hair. This is small but this really bothers me and Tyler Perry has done this before. Apparently drug addict= hair in disarray. Yes, Judith is on drugs but she cares about her appearance now more than ever. Her sugar daddy, dope dealer has her dressing fly. I will still buy that she's doing blow even if her hair looks good. It would have been more believable if it wasn't so obvious but subtlety doesn't exist in this universe. Harley tells Judith he will buy her, her own practice and she can be a marriage counselor. She promptly quits her job. How is she gonna counsel anyone when she's currently cheating on her husband? Brice knows whats going on. He watches his wife get out of Harley's ride, adjust her clothes , as if shes not an addicted adulterer and enter the house. He says nothing. I guess good guy = doormat. When  Brice finally confronts Judith at a club she breaks up with him. Brice goes to Melinda crying. He attempts to kiss her and she reminds him they are not attracted to each other (yea okay). She also reveals that she has HIV and her ex Harley, that rich tech guy gave it to her. This supposed to be a big reveal. It's not. Melinda and Harley silmutaneously showed up in Judith and Brice's life. Also this is a Tyler Perry film it, wouldn't be complete without a lifelong disease and a ridiculous coincidence. 

Brice rescues Judith from Harley's. She is bloodied and unconscious because Harley is also a woman beater. Brice beats the living crap out of Harley, even putting him through a glass wall. It's very dramatic.
We are left with the aftermath. Brice, the good guy, didn't get HIV. Judith the bad girl, caught the virus. The ending of the movie is most infuriating of all. Judith finally got her wish. She is a marriage counselor. She works in an inner city clinic just close enough for a stroll to Brice's pharmacy. It's been at least 15 years. Brice has a grey hairs in his fro and a beautiful wife and cute son. Judith is unrecognizable, In fact we don't know it's her until he calls her name. She also has a limp in her walk.  Judith reveals she is with her mother most of the time and has given her life to Christ.  On the way out we see Melinda as well and she looks exactly the same! They did nothing to show Brandy had aged, not even throwing a different wig on her. Remember she has HIV too. She seemed happy and free spirited.  I guess the virus didn't mess  up her walk or make her gain weight or do anything to her appearance. Judith leaves looking miserable and lonely. So I guess the moral to the story is don't cheat on your spouse. You will get Aids. I didn't say it, Tyler Perry did.