The Temp (1993)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

Tom Holland

Writers (WGA):

Kevin Falls (story) &
Tom Engelman (story) ...

Release Date:

12 February 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Don't get mad. Get promoted.

Plot:

A cookie company takeover has employees scrambling to make a case for continued employment. An executive's...

Plot Keywords:

Cookie | Corporate Ladder | Cookie Company | Blood Splatter | Wasp

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Timothy Hutton	...	Peter Derns
Lara Flynn Boyle	...	Kris Bolin
Dwight Schultz	...	Roger Jasser
Oliver Platt	...	Jack Hartsell
Steven Weber	...	Brad Montroe
Colleen Flynn	...	Sara Meinhold
Faye Dunaway	...	Charlene Towne
Scott Coffey	...	Lance
Dakin Matthews	...	Dr. Feldman
Maura Tierney	...	Sharon Derns
Lin Shaye	...	Rosemary
Michael Winters	...	Mercer
Daniel C. Swanson	...	Nathan Derns
Demene E. Hall	...	Marla Higgins
Jesse Vint	...	Larry

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Germany:12 | South Korea:18 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

North Coast, Oregon, USA

Company:

Columbus Circle Films

Trivia:

The role played by Faye Dunaway was first offered to Diane Ladd: Dunaway and Ladd had both appeared in the film Chinatown (1974) in which Ladd's character impersonates Dunaway's. Dunaway was given the role as she was agreeable to a lesser fee than that asked by Ladd and also did not wish the star billing which Ladd did.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: Though the movie takes place in Portland, Oregon, one of the characters is listening to a Seattle radio station, which would not transmit in Portland.

Quotes:

Peter Derns: Where'd she get the picture?
Rosemary: It came with the frame. She bought a set-five for $9.99 from Thrifty's.

Movie Connections:

Features "The Arsenio Hall Show" (1989)

Soundtrack:

Basketball Glitter

It's stupid but enjoyable in its own way.

Peter Derns (Timothy Hutton) is a rising executive at Miss Appleby's, a cookie manufacturing company, who ends up with the best/worst personal assistant he could have asked for: a devious sexpot named Kris Bolin (Lara Flynn Boyle), who is all too clearly following her own agenda for the duration of the movie.

The script, and especially the final resolution, leave a lot to be desired, but it's still a fairly slick corporate/psycho thriller from director Tom Holland, best known for his entertaining horror movies "Fright Night" and "Child's Play". Sometimes, you just have to laugh at it, but as we all know, unintended laughs are not always a bad thing. It *is* a true guilty pleasure, with an enjoyable cast making the most of what they've got here. Boyle particularly is very easy to watch.

Steve Johnson's XFX Company handled the relatively light makeup work (this isn't a film to really relish in gory details), and the music by Frederic Talgorn is decent.

Director Holland features his son Josh in a small role; Josh also turned up in his dad's subsequent theatrical effort, "Stephen King's Thinner".

I didn't think that this was a truly terrible film; I just advise viewers to go in with low expectations and maybe you might get some entertainment out of it.

5/10