The Temp (1993)

A cookie company takeover has employees scrambling to make a case for continued employment. An executive's administrative assistant takes paternity leave, and he gets a temp who is too good... See full summary »

Director:

Tom Holland

Writers:

Kevin Falls (story), Tom Engelman (story)

Stars:

Timothy Hutton, Lara Flynn Boyle, Dwight Schultz

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 Hall	...	Marla Higgins (as Demene E. Hall)
Jesse Vint	...	Larry

Storyline

A cookie company takeover has employees scrambling to make a case for continued employment. An executive's administrative assistant takes paternity leave, and he gets a temp who is too good to be true, doing tasks at a fast pace and doing quite a bit of creative work for the project. The executive starts noticing that all the obstacles to his climb up the corporate ladder are disappearing, including the death of some of his rivals. When his regular admin returns to work, his temp, who has made it clear that she wishes to stay with him, begins her own accelerated climb up the ladder, and he begins wondering if she was responsible for the removal of the obstacles.

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Plot Keywords:

corporate ladder | cookie company | serial killer | office politics | upward mobility | 

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Taglines:

Don't get mad. Get promoted.

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and scenes of violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 February 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ambición fatal

Filming Locations:

North Coast, Oregon, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,877,744, 12 February 1993, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$6,419,876

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbus Circle Films, Paramount Pictures, Permut Presentations

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Reshuffles at the studio resulted in director Tom Holland having a different ending imposed on him, largely at the behest (it was rumored at the time) of Faye Dunaway who didn't want to be seen in a bad light.

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Goofs

Less then 5 minutes into the movie we see the camera visable when "Peter" gets into the elevator. Right as the doors are closing the camera is seen reflecting on the right side.

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Quotes

Charlene Towne: [gasping] The picture! The picture!

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Connections

Referenced in The Sugarcube Critic: Applebuck Season (2014)

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Soundtracks

Falling In Love
Composed by Alec Gould

User Reviews

Where's my coffee?

THE TEMP is one of those glossy 90s office thrillers that you can watch with one eye closed, walk away from it for a few minutes, come back to it and not miss a thing. Michael Douglas made one of these as well, 1994's DISCLOSURE. Lara Flynn Boyle, the main reason for watching this, plays a nutjob temp who fills in for corporate exec Tim Hutton's regular secretary. Pretty soon, his in-office competitors and acquaintances are dropping like flies, and the very existence of the company is threatened -- all thanks to the evil machinations of the delectable and obsessed Ms. Boyle, who is lots of fun to watch as she slithers about and whispers dire warnings in her boss' ear. Hutton perhaps plays his part a little too straight, but old-timer Faye Dunaway as the beleaguered company head tears up the scenery in every one of her too-few scenes. Dunaway at least knows when she's working a turkey jerky. Try watching Boyle and not think of her in WAYNE'S WORLD, by the way. She played a similar nutjob in that comedy classic.