The Temp

1993 "Don't get mad. Get promoted."
5.3| 1h39m| R| en| More Info
Released: 12 February 1993 Released
Producted By: Paramount
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

A series of mysterious accidents at a food company lead a manager to suspect his impressive new temporary secretary.

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Director

Tom Holland

Production Companies

Paramount

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The Temp Audience Reviews

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
LarryBrownHouston **** 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.
Coventry 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.
rondine 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.
80sChild 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