Amazon.com: Some agreeable Paris location shooting enhances the atmosphere of Tempo, a rather desperately titled thriller from the low-budget universe. Melanie Griffith, looking well preserved, is a highly paid courier for art smugglers (including Malcolm McDowell, in his smiling-panther form). She "keeps" a much younger man (Hugh Dancy) in her fabulous apartment, but he suddenly finds "the whole love at first sight thing" with an ex-pat cutie (Rachael Leigh Cook). The suspense plot, about a smuggling deal gone sour, is pretty flaccid, and the supposedly sexy stuff isn't very sexy. Even the romantic triangle doesn't cause that many problems. It's hard to know what Melanie Griffith is doing in this movie, although there are vestiges of some other kind of picture here--something about an older woman searching for meaning or lost youth, maybe. But that's gone, and what's left is negligible cable-TV fodder. --Robert Horton
Hugh Dancy saves the movie This movie was really bad. The story seemed to be thrown together. The dialogue was not believable. The characters were underdeveloped. Melanie Griffith was terrible, Rachel Leigh Cook was terrible. The only worthwhile quality this movie had can be summed up in three little words: Hugh Dancy Naked. He's the most believable actor in this movie. He really does all a person can do with such awful dialogue, but this isn't his best performance. If you're not a Hugh Dancy fan, don't waste your time with this movie.
TEMPO SKIPS A BEAT In this derivative, limp made for Canadian TV movie, Melanie Griffith stumbled through the role of a glitzy "courier" for obviously illegal products. She has a younger live-in stud (Hugh Dancy in a weak performance) and is sent on a secretive mission by Malcolm McDowell (he pops up in almost anything these days). Melanie also has a sleazy additional boss (played with absent malice by Art Malik) who screws up the McDowell deal and then demands eighty thousand dollars for the effort. Along comes lovely Rachael Leigh Cook (who deserves better than this) who suddenly becomes the true love of Dancy's miserable life. Dancy is such a spineless cad one can hardly feel sympathy for the miss the three of them end up in. It's all been done before and much much better. TEMPO is a composition without any heart.
thrills and romance when i first began watching this movie i thought what is going on all these lights and cars chasing each other but after i got past that i thought it was a wonderful movie. melanie was ok and rachel was amazing but hugh dancy was the most amazing one of all. i never expected to see him that way and to see that shower seen well......i'll let every one see it for themselves. i think this movie was really great and who ever doesn't think so should watch it again because maybe they fell asleep or some thing because this movie was great.
2 Stars Merely for Mr. Dancy This movie is so weak I can barely explain how it has damaged me. It seems to rest somewhere between mainstream and indie styles, but in either genre it is a hollow movie. The only good thing about this movie is Hugh Dancy. I love him as an actor (and it doesn't hurt that he's attractive), but I am horribly disappointed in his choice to participate in this film. Bad Hugh. Slap on the wrist and let's all move on, okay? If you need me I'll be in my room, crouched in the fetal position and whimpering softly to myself. Need.....developed.....script.....NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Utterly Forgettable Thriller / Drama: Very Dull Indeed Melanie Griffith, Rachel Leigh Cook, and Hugh Dancy star in this straight-to-video film about one female transporter, who gets into trouble because of someone plotting against her. Well, that's all about it, apparently, but the film tries to give something unique to the otherwise unoriginal plot.
I mean, the slightly original character of Sarah by Melanie Griffth, who plays that smuggler in trouble. Given a special job by Malcom McDowell with his customary 'I-could-be-very-baaaad' smile, Sarah agrees to carry a pack hidden in her bag. But as you know, someone also wants that package, and ... well, that's nothing new, but she is attacked on the way.
DON'T EXPECT ANY THRILLER, however. The film's focus is not about that; it is the relations about Sarah and Jack (Dancy) who live together in a fancy Paris apartment. But while Sarah is away from Paris on business, Jack is attracted to a younger lady Jenny (Cook) who also falls for him.
Thus the film makes an effort to include both love and crime. Nice try, considering this interesting point about the character of elder lady Sarah, but if the factor is taken away from the film, the end result is nothing but a flat, tired suspence -- suspence as to its relations and its crimes alike. Either way, the film is emotilnally very void.
OK. two fatally bad things: one, too incredible characters. See, Sarah is a professional courier who must know the rules of the job, which could be dangerous. But instead of renting a car (and it's Europe, where that could be pretty easy), she takes a train (and a night train!) in which she becomes an easy target. In this way, the film misses every chance to make it more suspenceful. When some character(s) must die, they die like characters in old video games -- they fall, that's all.
The other one; acting. Let me be honest. It was painful to watch the one-dimentional performance of Melanie Griffith, who was very good in 'Another Day in Paradise.' Maybe she is not the greatest actor, but certainly she can act. But as far as 'Tempo' is concerned, no, I don't think so.
Only the location of Paris saves this film from utter forgettableness. Forget about this one.
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