Temptation Review

I saw Temptation on April 3, 2013!! Now normally, I dislike Tyler Perry's movies a great deal, but I had actually wanted to check this one out. The trailer looked good, so I decided to check it out. I ended up enjoying it. This movie showed the story of an ambitious woman working as a marriage counseler/date coordinator for wealthy men. I was extremely impressed with the lead actress Jurnee Smollett-Bell who played Judith. She is involved with a man named Brice who she has been married to for 6 years, but had been close with for 19 years when they first met at the age of 6. This eventually turned into a romantic relationship in high school. It shows us some of the past involved with their early lives. The mother Sarah is very religious and actually becomes a reverend. We follow her life as they have been married for six years. As I was watching this story unfold, I kept seeing many elements of 50 Shades of Grey. There are definite points such as the relationship that develops between Judith and Robbie Jone's Harley character. Similar to Christian Grey, they made him this 27 year old hot shot who was loaded, but had a troubled past with his mother and things like that.  However, his dark side was alot like Jack Hyde, so it balanced really well. Judith was very Anastasia Steele throughout this movie in terms of how she interacts with Harley. It should be noted that Lance Gross's Brice character was really good, and I actually felt bad for him through parts of the movie, however, he also did forget Judith's birthday. Remember, they had known each other for 19 years. How do you forget her birthday? That is a red flag, but Judith initially kept rebuking the advances of Harley. When Judith and Harley eventually consummate their relationship, Judith still pushes away. She literally cannot get away in this instance. You'll see what I am talking about. Eventually, that leads to the downward spiral of Judith and Brice. I thought that Brandy's character Melinda added a pretty good dynamic as she needed to be there to eventually reveal a big twist that added to the plot quite well. I figured her twist was coming, but I still loved Brice's reaction to it. I think Bell was easily the standout of this movie, and she showed great acting chops. Judith is gorgeous. There are some really powerful scenes between her and Brice where you get angry at Judith for treating Brice the way she is. Sarah warns her that she is going down a path to hell. Judith's response: "I'll enjoy the ride." I should also add that Ella Joyce who played Sarah, though a smaller part was great. Her scenes with Judith were excellent. The two of them really commanded the screen when they were on it. She also provided some great comedic lines for a light laugh when it was needed. She couldn't be more right as Judith's life becomes chaotic and ultimately will change her life forever because of Harley. There was never a point in the movie where I liked Harley. I wanted to punch him in the face. Judith was becoming bored with her relationship to Brice, and once somebody showed her a different approach she jumped on it. Bell did very well balancing the two different sides. Gross did a great job throughout this movie as well, especially during the second half of the movie. I was glad they kept Kim Kardashian's spot to a minimum. She played a character named Ava, but everybody will just see Kim, because that's exactly what she acted like. Her voice can get very annoying. Vanessa Williams is always fun to watch as she is a pretty woman that portrays powerful women, and this was no exception. She was in the movie briefly as well, but she still made an impact. Overall, I thought the cast, plot, and characters were interesting. I think Jurnee Smollett-Bell is a really good actress, and I hope to see her in more movies, because she really stood out. I will give this a 4/5. I have seen alot of negative reviews for this, but I don't agree with what they're saying. I thought the story flowed and for those that read 50 Shades of Grey, you'll see the elements there. It isn't as extreme as those books which is a good thing because that is graphic, but they definitely showed outlines from that series which fueled a Tyler Perry movie that I finally liked.