Don't Tempt Me - 2001

Movie #130


4 stars

A concussive brain injury could spell curtains for a boxer named Manny (Demian Bichir). But no sooner does a priest begin to spout the boxer's last rites than a couple of supernatural agents -- an angel from heaven (Victoria Abril) and a waitress from hell (Penelope Cruz) -- are sent to vie for his soul. A unique, enjoyable film that makes comic use of languages.

Cast: Penélope Cruz, Victoria Abril, Demián Bichir, Fanny Ardant, Gael García Bernal, Gemma Jones, Bruno Bichir, Elena Anaya, Peter McDonald, Emilio Gutiérrez Caba, Cristina Marcos, Alicia Sanchez, Luis Tosar, Elsa Pataky

Director: Agustin Diaz Yanes

Tagline: Heaven and hell are on Earth, and they're wearing heels.






The one thing that made this movie was the cast.

• Penelope Cruz - Hell's Angel
• Gael Garcia Bernal - Operations Manager for Hell
• Victoria Abril - Heaven's Angel
• Fanny Ardant - Operations Manager for Heaven

The film starts off with the two angels walking into a building and then pulling a mark over their faves. It then cuts to two months earlier.

Even though I'm not a big fan of this technique, this choice was probably for the best. The story lacked umph sometimes but if you get a little bored then you just start to wonder how the two women (supposed enemies) got there.

Best actor goes to Penelope. At first you think she is doing a terrible job because of the way she carries herself...but in the end you are like ohhhh!

There were also a lot of good quotes:

• Lola Nevado: Bad people never let you down, because bad people never change
• Carmen Ramos: Remember: either God wants all evil to disappear but can't do it, which means He's weak. Or He can, but won't, which means He's evil. Or He can't and won't, so He's weak and evil, and therefore not God. Unde malum?

My only major dislikes about the movie is (a) the subtitles were not as good as they could have been (white letters on a light background) but they are not the worst I have seen...and (b) I don't think I would rush to watch it again...the reason I'm not giving it a 5.

An interesting thing to note was that they speak French in Heaven, English in Hell, and the movie takes place in Spain...so Spanish on Earth.

Overall Recommendation: This is a good one!