Tempted

Whoever originally came up with the idea of setting an erotic thriller in the humid, notoriously debauched city of New Orleans should have copyrighted the concept from the get-go, because over the years it seems like there have been countless movies, telemovies and forgotten TV shows that have taken advantage of the location’s reputation for sex, swamps, bourbon and blues to weave tales of murder and intrigue that invariably get promoted with prominent use of the word “steamy�. Sure, there are many clichés in cinema, but most would be hard pressed to think of a film set in the place that didn’t involve some moments of heavy breathing, a healthy dose of lusty looks and at least one actor failing miserably at delivering the lazy New Orleans drawl. From The Big Easy to Interview with the Vampire, the content may change but the mood remains. Presumably, this is the city to head to if you want to get beaten up and murdered but would like a decent shag first.

Sllllurp...! Jimmy gets steamy, New Orleans style.

This week’s dose of sex from the South, Tempted, was written and directed by Australian Bill Bennett, an inventive filmmaker who’s come up with some diverse work over the past couple of decades. His 1997 thriller Kiss Or Kill got plenty of favourable attention, and his most recent effort, The Nugget, scored a high-profile release in Australia. Fond of improvisation, Bennett has a knack for grabbing a genre and amplifying it in a unique way; with Tempted, though, the overall sense of deja vu is perhaps a little too strong.

Rich guy Charlie Le Blanc (Burt Reynolds, in a very good performance) is deeply in love with his beautiful young wife Lilly (Saffron Burrows) - a little too deeply. Convinced that she couldn’t possibly be happy to stay faithful to him - even though we learn early that she most certainly is - he decides to test her loyalty by hiring someone to try and get her into bed. The lucky candidate is Jimmy (Peter Facinelli), who’s initially reluctant but is eventually persuaded to give it the old college try. Despite him trying the old “sexy repairman� trick, though, Lilly’s far from interested - until, that is, she finds out about Charlie’s test. Her loyalty shattered, she does the only thing any self respecting betrayed vixen from the steamy South can - and she does it with her clothes on. Amidst the smashing crockery and impressively painful-looking sexual positions on the staircase, Jimmy’s quite enjoying himself - but what he doesn’t know is that Charlie is secretly taping the whole thing. And Charlie’s not happy. Will Charlie betray Jimmy and Lilly? Or will Lilly betray Jimmy for Charlie, or Charlie for Jimmy, or both Jimmy and Charlie? Or will everyone betray each other and get out the guns and shoot each other to celebrate? Watch and find out, but prepare for some unintentional giggles along the way.

"Lilly... err... is there a leopard behind me, by any chance?"

We’ve not been able to find solid information about the intended aspect ratio of Tempted, but on this DVD it’s been transferred at the unusual aspect ratio or exactly 2:1 - ever so slightly wider than the usual non-scope film. Framing looks fine, and we can only presume the choice of aspect ratio was at the director’s request; the recently released US version of the disc was offered only in 4:3 pan and scan. The 16:9 enhanced transfer here looks lovely, showing up the warm colours of Tony Clark’s enticing cinematography perfectly, and while the film’s only got a single DVD layer to play with, there aren’t any compression problems to speak of to distract from the steaminess.

International Stare-Out Champion 2001, Burt Reynolds

The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mix is fairly active, though decidedly front-biased for the most part. With centre-channel dialogue clear enough but slightly diffuse - probably the result of location recording - the front speakers provide the bulk of the effects, with occasional highly localised audio and gentle ambience in the surrounds. The music score is by David Bridie, well known to music fans for his work with Not Drowning Waving, My Friend the Chocolate Cake and his solo albums, as well as many film and TV soundtracks. Bridie, who was putting together his current album Hotel Radio at the same time, enlists some supremely talented help, too - Ed Kuepper, Kerri Simpson, Michael Barker, Phil Wales, Hope Csutoros and Helen Mountfort among them. The score was mixed in full 5.1 surround, and while the surround use is generally quite subtle, it’s a massive improvement on the straight stereo mixes usually used on lower-budget films. Both music and movie make extensive use of the LFE channel.

A non-flagged Dolby Surround mix is also provided for those who feel a bit retro.

"Lilly, has someone been licking your head?"

Only a handful of extra material is provided, but it’s nice to get anything at all given the film’s low profile. Along with a letterboxed, non-anamorphic Theatrical Trailer, there’s a featurette bravely titled Behind the Scenes that’s actually just four minutes and 16 seconds of raw B-roll footage from the set. Now, some object to the inclusion of unedited B-roll material, but this reviewer thinks it’s terrific - no hype, just a look at what it was like on the set while shooting the film; it can be very revealing. If only there was more of it here.

Finally, the most substantial extra is a collection of interviews - basically the raw material from the EPK supplied to media, with words from Bennett and Clark along with the lead actors. There’s 16 minutes’ worth all up, in a simple format - text question, video answer. While there’s no “play all� option for these, there was obviously meant to be - a play-all version is authored on the disc but not included in the menu! Manually select title 5 on your player to watch ‘em all at once.

Stylishly made and not without a sense of humour, but loaded with credibility gaps, silly plot developments and the obligatory “meaningful� swamp analogies, Tempted is hardly groundbreaking cinema. But if sex ’n’ crime thrillers are your thing and the word “steamy� is your personal catch-phrase for “phwoar�, then you’ll probably have a good time being Tempted.