Tempted
Directed byBill Bennett
Written byBill Bennett
StarringPeter Facinelli
Burt Reynolds
Saffron Burrows
CinematographyTony Clark
Edited byHenry Dangar
Music byDavid Bridie
Production
company
Distributed byTF1 International
Release date
September 7, 2001
Running time
95 minutes
CountriesAustralia
France
United States
LanguageEnglish

Tempted is a 2001 Australian-French-American thriller film written and directed by Bill Bennett and starring Peter Facinelli, Burt Reynolds and Saffron Burrows.[1]

Plot

Struggling to come to terms with his own mortality, construction contractor Charlie LeBlanc seeks to test the fidelity of his wife, Lilly, a beautiful former model 30 years his junior. With this henchman Dot Collins, Charlie visits one of his construction sites in New Orleans and propositions Jimmy Mulate, a handsome and talented freelance carpenter, to attempt to seduce Lilly. Charlie offers Mulate $10,000 — and $50,000 more if he succeeds in the task, plus an additional $40,000 if he’s able to describe to Charlie in perfect detail the tattoo on Lilly’s body. Though initially hesitant to accept Charlie’s terms, Mulate eventually agrees at the urging of his friend, Ted, who encourages Mulate to use the money to partially or fully pay for his law school education.

Having had his offer accepted, Charlie informs Lilly he is leaving New Orleans for a week-long business trip in Dallas and to expect Mulate to show up at the house in the coming days to repair a broken door. Before leaving, Charlie visits his friend, public investigator Byron Blades, and asks his assistance in surveilling Lilly and Jimmy while he is away. Though he initially declines, Blades relents and installs cameras and microphones throughout the LeBlanc’s mansion while Lilly drives Charlie to the airport.

The next day, Mulate fixes the broken door and attempts to seduce Lilly in her bed. Lilly draws a gun from her dresser and asks Mulate to leave. Mulate later apologizes to Lilly, offering to make amends by inviting her out for the evening. Lilly accepts, and the two go out for drinking and dancing before Lilly hastily departs amid conflicting feelings and after having seen her husband's work associates at a club.

Mulate returns home and walks in on a bloodied Ted, who has just murdered the son of the governor of Louisiana, who is reportedly homosexual. Mulate helps Ted dispose of the body in the Mississippi River.

The next day, Charlie’s secretary, Heather, reveals Charlie’s plot to Lilly. Though initially overwhelmed, she subsequently calls Mulate under the guise that she needs a window repaired. Mulate arrives and the two have sex.

Upon returning from Dallas, Charlie visits Blades, who turns over footage of Lilly and Mulate making love. When confronted, Mulate initially lies to Charlie and Collins, falsely reassuring them of Lilly’s fidelity. Charlie physically assaults Mulate and orders him to help him kill Lilly, threatening to kill Mulate’s father if he does not oblige. Mulate later warns Lilly, who implores Mulate that they need to kill Charlie, but not before the two have sex a second time; while undressing Mulate spots a tattoo that reads “Dakota #7” on Lilly’s inner thigh.

That evening, Charlie and Lilly are accosted, as Charlie is shot twice and killed; Lilly draws a gun from her purse and shoots the masked assailant. When police arrive, the assailant is revaled to be Ted. Blades meets Mulate at a bar and presents him with a recording of Lilly and Mulate in flagrante delicto, during which Lilly is heard proposing that they kill Charlie. Unaware that both he and Lilly share legal counsel, Mulate flees the law office of David Crabbe after having failed to negotiate a plea deal that would secure his innocence in exchange for incriminating evidence against Lilly.

Lilly offers Mulate $500,000 for the recording, and the two agree to make the exchange at a swamp shack given to Mulate by his father. Unbeknownst to Lilly, Mulate cooperates with police and has Blades and other members of law enforcement listen in on their conversation at the shack. Blades and the cops move in when they hear the sound of a gunshot apparently fired by Lilly at Mulate; in the ensuing chaos, Collins arrives with a shot gun seeking to kill Lilly and Mulate. Collins is shot dead after a brief shootout with police, and Lilly is arrested after telling Mulate she can’t trust him.

Cast

References

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