Tyler Perry's Temptation
Metascore
27 out of 100

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 14 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 14
  3. Negative: 11 out of 14
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  1. Slant Magazine
    Reviewed by: Calum Marsh
    Mar 30, 2013
    63
    When its third act erupts into full-blown theatrical maximalism, Tyler Perry's Temptation practically turns into Brian De Palma's Temptation.
  2. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Chris Nashawaty
    Mar 29, 2013
    58
    A few wild, third-act twists give Perry's middling melodrama some soap-opera kick. But all the finger-wagging sure does get tiring after a while.
  3. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Miriam Bale
    Mar 29, 2013
    40
    The mixed tones don't quite meld; While Smollet-Bell is fine, the broad comedy is so sporadic it feels out of place.
  4. Movie Nation
    Reviewed by: Roger Moore
    Mar 29, 2013
    38
    Cranking out two formulaic movies like this a year show the Atlanta mogul’s true ambition — replacing all those soap operas TV is canceling, two hours at a time.
  5. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Nathan Rabin
    Mar 29, 2013
    33
    It isn’t until Temptation grows flamboyantly bad in its final act that it rises to the level of good dumb fun in the trashy tradition of Perry’s most entertainingly awful films.
  6. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Zachary Wigon
    Apr 2, 2013
    30
    Temptation’s refusal to find nuance in its didactic worldview ensures that the film will ultimately only succeed for audiences already in agreement with it.
  7. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Andy Webster
    Mar 29, 2013
    30
    Limp pacing and countless shots of Washington’s skyline plague the narrative. Ms. Smollett-Bell exudes an earthy appeal, but it’s the charismatic Mr. Jones who steals the picture. Given all the stifling preachiness, that’s to be expected.
  8. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Frank Scheck
    Mar 29, 2013
    30
    Onscreen, it somehow manages to be at once wildly overblown and terminally boring.
  9. Variety
    Reviewed by: Scott Foundas
    Mar 29, 2013
    30
    Significantly lacking in star wattage (including Perry’s own), this sluggish, relentlessly downbeat portrait of a young couple in crisis should play well to Perry’s fanbase.
  10. Film.com
    Reviewed by: William Goss
    Mar 29, 2013
    30
    By any measure, 'Temptation' ranks amongst Tyler Perry's worst.
  11. RogerEbert.com
    Reviewed by: Peter Sobczynski
    Jun 11, 2013
    25
    The film is flat-out ludicrous from beginning to end.
  12. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    Apr 3, 2013
    20
    Apart from its dramatic predictability, Temptation is a snooze because of its languid pacing and rudimentary camerawork.
  13. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Mark Olsen
    Mar 29, 2013
    20
    Perry's ongoing disinterest in improving as a filmmaker is now seemingly part of his unshakable belief in himself, his insistence on doing his thing his way.
  14. Time Out New York
    Reviewed by: Nick Schager
    Mar 29, 2013
    20
    That sort of fire-and-brimstone morality dominates this one-note sermon, which pairs its pedantic preaching with the campiness of Vanessa Williams speaking in an absurd French accent and Kim Kardashian as the protagonist’s bitchy fashionista coworker, vainly trying to act.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
2.3 out of 10

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 23 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 8
  3. Negative: 5 out of 8
  1. ajoiner
    0
    I went into this movie with an open mind! I didn't even have to buy the ticket! And I sure wasn't pressed for time. I had nothing to lose with getting even the slightest bit of enjoyment from this film. I'm pretty certain that even the most mediocre slurry of a movie could have entertained me enough to simply shrug and say "whatever" and I would have been fine with that.
    Sadly... No...
    What I got in return was a lasting nightmare that won't ever go away. I am prohibited, by law, from filing any formal charges for what I believe to be psychological torment and/or aggravated assault.

    WARNING: TOXIC!
    NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION!
    IF MOVIE COMES INTO CONTACT WITH EYES, RINSE THOROUGHLY AND IMMEDIATELY AND CONTACT YOUR NEAREST POISON CONTROL CENTER!    … Full Review »
  2. GreatMartin
    3
    The full title of Tyler Perry’s new film is “Tyler Perry’s Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor” which is a big handle for what wouwhat would make a good TV movie with about 15 minutes cut from this fairly slow moving film. I am a big fan of Tyler Perry (except for his Madea character) and I keep hoping his films will ‘crossover’ to an additional crowd to his usual fan base. Though it was a little larger audience today Allen and I were the only white faces in the audience.

    The screenplay, based on his stage play, and directed by Perry, this film is all cliches. An amatuer director, when showing New Orleans, would feature someone singing “When The Saints Come Marching In” and a couple eating beignets at the Cafe Du Monde in the French Quarter or having them walk down Bourbon Street sipping Hurricanes. Perry, far from an amatuer, does just that as in the Washington D.C. scenes there are ALL the monuments and buildings an audience will be familiar with.

    Regarding the actors, and including a couple in that list seems offense to include as actors, I was familiar with Renee Taylor, who gets the wise crack lines, Vanessa Williams, whose reason for her accent distracts from her performance and doesn’t pay off when the reason is given and Brandy Norwood who gives a good performance. Ella Joyce is a familiar face and most of her background is in theatre.

    Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Lance Gross and Robbie Jones, all mainly from TV sitcoms and series, were new to me. One of the fun things in seeing Tyler Perry films are the point at which the male leads take off their shirts and the reactions from the audience. In Gross and Jones he picked the right guys for those scenes and though given cliche rolls they handle them well. The film revolves around Smollett-Bell who though not giving an embarrassing performance really needs more experience to tackle rolls like this.

    I may be the only person who is seeing Kim Kardashian for the first time except in print and, no disrespect intended, like many others I am shaking my head as to how she has come to the point in ‘fame’ that she has reached.

    This is not as good a film as his “Why Did I Get Married?” or “Why Did I Get Married Too?”. The biggest disappointment is you would have had to never seen a movie in this genre if you didn’t know where it is heading as soon as you meet the three leads. It wouldn’t be a Perry movie without some sermonizing and he brings the church, the bible, AIDS and HIV+ into the script adding to the already lengthy, at 111 minutes, of the slow moving story.

    By the way if you want to see why movies are so expensive to make just sit, and read, through the end credits!    … Full Review »
  3. Thegodfatherson
    1
    This is NOT a Tyler Perry movie, twelve minutes into it and you will be bored. Is this the laugh out loud funny Madea Tyler Perry? No, it's not. The film is just not good, it has no meaning all of it is kissing and Obsessions and none of the script has meaning. I say this Tyler Perry Garbage Sucks.… Full Review »
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