Review: Don't Tempt Me (* 1/2)

DON'T TEMPT ME
A film review by Steve Rhodes

Copyright 2003 Steve Rhodes

RATING (0 TO ****): * 1/2


Agustín Díaz Yanes's DON'T TEMPT ME (SIN NOTICIAS DE DIOS) is a barely
comprehensible mess that will have you leaving shaking your head. The
off-the-wall story has a couple of angels, Carmen Ramos (Penélope Cruz) from
hell and Lola Nevado (Victoria Abril) from heaven, competing for the soul of
Manny (Demián Bichir), a prizefighter and security guard.



Fanny Ardant, as Marina D'Angelo, appears in black-and-white nightclub
sequences in which she gives instructions to Lola. In hell, Gael Garcia
Bernal (Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN) plays an operations manager who worries what
people will say if they install air-conditioning. He wears a "Do It With
Style" shirt, which might appear to be the motto of this formless
production. Since the movie makes little sense, style, of which it actually
has little, is about the film's only hope.



In one sequence, set in the "22nd Circle of Hell," Cruz plays a trailer
trash waitress working in what looks like a prison restaurant. She is
rescued as the prisoners start to gang rape her. The only fun episode in
the movie has her dancing to the old "Kung Fu Fighting" song. Fun is
something in very short supply in this would-be comedy.



DON'T TEMPT ME runs a very long 1:52. The film is in Spanish and French
with English subtitles and in English. It is rated R for "language, some
violence and sexual content" and would be acceptable for older teenagers.



The film is playing in limited release now in the United States. In the
Silicon Valley, it is showing at the Camera Cinemas.



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