Name: Retro Film Review: Temptation (1994)
Item: Temptation
Author: @drax

(source: tmdb.org)

It seems that Jeff Fahey had certain tendency for the roles of seamen, because his character in Temptation, 1994 film by Strathford Hamilton, was very similar to the character the same actor had played in Woman of Desire one year earlier. Here he plays Eddie Lanarsky, former sailor who spent five years in prison for the failed insurance scam. His partner in crime, Michael Reddick (played by Philip Casnoff) is married to rich and beautiful Lee (played by Alison Doody). Together with his friend Bone (played by David Keith), Eddie boards Lee's yacht as sailor in order to ask his former partner some questions. That would provide a lot of drama during the cruise, but Michael has a very sinister plan of his own.

Compared with Woman of Desire, this combination of "whodunit", action and erotic thriller looks like a masterpiece of style and intelligence. However, compared with any average thriller, Temptation is rather forgettable. Filled with cliches, mostly predictable plot twists - Elisabethan bloodbath in the finale being one of them – it works only because of nice scenery. Part of that scenery is Patricia Durham, exotic beauty who doesn't mind revealing her body in erotic scenes. Problem is, those scenes are set in the wrong places of the movie, they seem totally implausible, and finally, just illustrate how corny this film is. Same effect is with the musical score by Conrad Pope who uses too much motives of Jerry Goldsmith's Basic Instinct. The actors are mostly fine, but it is shame to see Alison Doody, former romantic interest of Indiana Jones in The Last Crusade, using her talents in B-grade confection like this. Unlike Patricia Durham, she doesn't appear naked, but I doubt that even such drastic measure would make this film better than average.

RATING: 4/10 (+)

(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on June 6th 1999)