"The Temp" follows a young businessman (Timothy Hutton) who is recently divorced and struggling with extreme paranoia. The arrival of a new temp worker (Lara Flynn Boyle) in his office at first seems to be a help, but soon becomes a hindrance when a series of accidents and mishaps occur at the company.
From the plot summary, "The Temp" probably sounds like a fun, kitschy thriller in the best of '90s fashions--and in some ways, it is. The film is in the same vein as "Basic Instinct" or "Black Widow," but has far less twists and turns, which may be its biggest sin. The general setup here could have been mined for fantastic moments between Hutton's paranoid businessman and Boyle's mysterious femme fatale, but the screenplay unfortunately is slim on this. Director Tom Holland ("Child's Play," "Fright Night") does a solid job with what he has to work with, but there are tonal problems with the film that leave it feeling unbalanced at times--the sense of threat waxes and wanes, and at times it just feels like an office drama (which is not good for a thriller).
The performances here are solid, with Hutton making a likable leading man, and Boyle mildly effective and non-threatening (which I suppose is the point). Faye Dunaway plays Hutton's ruthless boss, and ranges from serviceable to utterly campy. The film is shot beautifully, and the locales are great--part of the reason I wanted to watch the film was that it was shot in my hometown, and it does serve as a time capsule of what the city looked like when I was a child.
Overall, "The Temp" is good fun if you take it on the terms of it being an artifact of glossy early '90s neo-noir revival films. It is well-shot and competently acted, although it suffers from a general lack of threat or surprise, so the stakes never really feel present. If you can accept its shallowness, it is a mildly fun popcorn movie. 6/10.
From the plot summary, "The Temp" probably sounds like a fun, kitschy thriller in the best of '90s fashions--and in some ways, it is. The film is in the same vein as "Basic Instinct" or "Black Widow," but has far less twists and turns, which may be its biggest sin. The general setup here could have been mined for fantastic moments between Hutton's paranoid businessman and Boyle's mysterious femme fatale, but the screenplay unfortunately is slim on this. Director Tom Holland ("Child's Play," "Fright Night") does a solid job with what he has to work with, but there are tonal problems with the film that leave it feeling unbalanced at times--the sense of threat waxes and wanes, and at times it just feels like an office drama (which is not good for a thriller).
The performances here are solid, with Hutton making a likable leading man, and Boyle mildly effective and non-threatening (which I suppose is the point). Faye Dunaway plays Hutton's ruthless boss, and ranges from serviceable to utterly campy. The film is shot beautifully, and the locales are great--part of the reason I wanted to watch the film was that it was shot in my hometown, and it does serve as a time capsule of what the city looked like when I was a child.
Overall, "The Temp" is good fun if you take it on the terms of it being an artifact of glossy early '90s neo-noir revival films. It is well-shot and competently acted, although it suffers from a general lack of threat or surprise, so the stakes never really feel present. If you can accept its shallowness, it is a mildly fun popcorn movie. 6/10.