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The Temptations

starring: Charles Malik Whitfield, D.B. Woodside, Terron Brooks, Christian Payton, Leon
directed by: Allan Arkush

: The Temptations
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
Brand: BROOKS/PAYTON
EAN: 0707729114499
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Label: Lions Gate
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Lions Gate
Region Code: 1
Release Date: August 14, 2001
Running Time: 150 minutes
Sales Rank: 4075
Studio: Lions Gate
Theatrical Release Date: November 01, 1998



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Editorial Review:

Product Description:
Follows the career of the African American singing sensation of the 60s, The Temptations.
No Track Information Available
Media Type: DVD
Artist: BROOKS/PAYTON
Title: TEMPTATIONS
Street Release Date: 12/21/2004
Domestic
Genre: DRAMA

Amazon.com:
Conceived as a television miniseries, this portrait of the epochal Motown vocal group scores as one of the most detailed re-creations of the '60s pop milieu ever filmed. Told largely through the eyes of founding member Otis Williams (Charles Malik Whitfield), The Temptations portrays its protagonists as soul Everymen whose early triumphs closely followed, and helped expand, Motown Records' emergence as 'the Sound of Young America,' providing an inspirational fable for black Americans.

Inevitably, of course, the story is also a cautionary tale about the price of success for both the Temps and their mentor, Motown founder Berry Gordy (Obba Babatunde). With hit records and tours, Williams and his partners grapple with drugs, alcohol, depression, jealousy, and delusions of grandeur. In particular, the galvanic lead singer David Ruffin (Leon) serves as both a focal strength and potential destroyer for the group, as his ego combines with a mounting cocaine habit to create a monster. At the same time, Gordy's eventual decision to leave his and the label's home, Detroit, for Los Angeles marks a loss of innocence for the group and their label-mates. The film provides ample insider detail about how the former Ford assembly-line worker created and controlled his unique hit factory.

Based on the biography coauthored by Williams and former manager Shelly Berger, the project gets a vital boost from behind the camera, thanks to executive producer Suzanne DePasse, herself a former Motown exec, and director Allan Arkush (Rock 'n' Roll High School). That lineage probably pulls some punches in terms of individual characters and Gordy's machinations, but it also affords The Temptations its convincing detail, as does the generous running time--a mixed blessing, due to the original two-part broadcast, which might have benefited from tightening for this video version. Giving the show its greatest kick are the group's original hits, performed and choreographed convincingly in lip-synched sequences. --Sam Sutherland



Customer Reviews
Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - Great biography of one greatest R&B Group of the sixties
This is a great movie if you like biographical drama of the entertainment industry. It filled,with ... Read More


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - The Temptations
The Temptations were one of my favorite groups growing up in the Detroit area. When the movie came ... Read More


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - The Temptations ( T.V. Movie )
This made for T.V. movie should have been on the silver screen. I couldn't tear myself away from it. ... Read More


Rating: 3 out of 5 stars - Temptations (VHS version)
I had already watched this on DVD. A reviewer said that the DVD version was cut - much shorter than ... Read More


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Great movie that took me back...
It's rare that a TV movie reaches this level of quality and emotion.

I grew up in the 50s ... Read More

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Copyright ©2003, Mark Carey.