Tempted

Tempted

Year: 2001

Runtime: 95 mins

Language: English

Director: Bill Bennett

MysteryRomanceThriller

I want to believe I can trust her…So I want to pay you to seduce my wife A wealthy man married to a beautiful younger woman puts her fidelity to the test.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – Tempted (2001)

Explore the full timeline and setting of Tempted (2001). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

Location

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, Mississippi River, USA, Dallas, Texas, USA

New Orleans serves as the primary backdrop, showcasing a sunlit, affluent world where wealth and power mask a dark undercurrent. The Mississippi River scenes anchor the film’s dealings with crime and disposal of evidence, highlighting the city’s shadowy edges. Dallas appears as a business travel node, hinting at a wider network beyond Louisiana. The Louisiana setting underpins themes of money, influence, and corruption throughout the story.

🏙️ City backdrop 🗺️ Southern setting 🎭 Crime drama atmosphere

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 11:52

Main Characters – Tempted (2001)

Meet the key characters of Tempted (2001), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Charlie LeBlanc (Burt Reynolds)

A successful construction contractor who uses wealth and influence to control his surroundings. His fear of mortality fuels a controlling scheme to test his wife’s fidelity, prompting him to manipulate others and orchestrate surveillance. He becomes increasingly ruthless as the plan spirals, culminating in violent consequences.

💼 Wealthy businessman 🧠 Controlling 🗝️ Manipulative

Lilly LeBlanc (Saffron Burrows)

A former model married to a man years her senior, she navigates a web of manipulation and temptation. Her loyalties are tested as she becomes entangled with Jimmy Mulate, while also plotting to protect herself. She exhibits agency and calculating resolve, ultimately contributing to the plan’s dangerous outcome.

💃 Socialite 🗝️ Secretive 🔥 Passionate

Jimmy Mulate (Peter Facinelli)

A freelance carpenter drawn into Charlie’s scheme by money and pressure. He negotiates his own safety while engaging in an affair with Lilly and later becomes entangled in the aftermath. His decisions swing between temptation and survival, with legal trouble looming over him.

💼 Ambitious 🕵️‍♂️ Deceptive 🤝 Reluctant ally

Dot Collins (Mike Starr)

Charlie’s henchman and muscle, loyal to the end but ultimately caught in the crossfire of the plan. He enforces the scheme and participates in the deadly turns of events, dying in the ensuing confrontation.

🗡️ Henchman 💥 Violent 🤝 Loyal

Ted (Eric Mabius)

A volatile figure who helps carry out violent acts, including the killing of the governor’s son’s assassin and aiding in disposing of bodies. His unpredictability adds a dangerous element to the conspiracy.

🔪 Violent 🔥 Unpredictable 🧭 Criminal

Byron Blades (George DiCenzo)

A private investigator who is initially reluctant but ultimately participates in surveillance. He provides footage that unsettles Lilly and Mulate, complicating loyalties and exposing hidden agendas.

🕵️ Private investigator 🎭 Moral ambiguity 🧩 Plot catalyst

J.A. (Randy Austin)

Charlie's associate whose role supports the broader network behind the scheme. Details are limited, but he serves as a roundabout figure in the crime plot.

🤝 Loyal 🕳️ Shadowy 🧭 Connector

Blades Man (David Jensen)

A figure connected to the Blades operations, appearing in scenes that involve surveillance and the movement of the plot forward. Acts as a functional ally in the manipulation network.

🕵️‍♂️ Shadowy 🗂️ Supporting 🧩 Plot device

Saturn Barman (Jack Radosta)

A bartender encountered in club scenes that mark social interaction moments in the story. A minor but atmospheric presence within the setting.

🍹 Bar Scene 🎭 Minor character 🗺️ Social hub

Carl (Kyle Erby)

A minor supporting character who appears in various scenes within the LeBlanc circle and social environment. Largely serves to populate the network of relationships surrounding the main cast.

👥 Minor character 🧩 Supporting role

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 11:52

Major Themes – Tempted (2001)

Explore the central themes of Tempted (2001), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

💔 Infidelity

Trust is weaponized in a marriage that appears glamorous but is built on manipulation. Charlie uses the idea of Lilly’s fidelity to exert control, turning love into a risk-laden game. Lilly’s responses oscillate between caution and calculated risk, exposing how desire can be a tool for power. The couple’s strained relationship drives the plot toward a deadly confrontation.

💰 Greed

Money funds manipulation and dangerous risk-taking, with upfront sums and large rewards driving everyone’s choices. The allure of wealth erodes judgment and fuels deceit, pushing characters to betray one another. Financial incentives create a web where loyalty is transactional and fragile. The pursuit of money escalates the violence and stakes of the scheme.

🕵️‍♂️ Surveillance

Watching becomes a tool of power as cameras and microphones infiltrate the LeBlanc mansion. The recordings expose true motives, turning private spaces into crime scenes of disclosure. Surveillance breeds paranoia and shifts the balance of control among charlateers. The plot hinges on what is seen, heard, and then acted upon.

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 11:52

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Explore Movie Threads

Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

Thrillers of Marital Suspense and Deception like Tempted

Stories where trust is a weapon and relationships become treacherous battlegrounds.If you enjoyed the tense premise of Tempted, this collection features movies with similar high-stakes relationship dynamics. Discover other thrillers where fidelity tests, seduction plots, and marital betrayals create a potent mix of eroticism and suspense, perfect for fans of emotionally heavy, morally complex stories.

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Narrative Summary

The narrative typically centers on a character—often a suspicious partner—who initiates a test (like hiring a seducer) to prove their loved one's loyalty. This single act sets off an irreversible chain of deception, where the lines between observer, manipulator, and victim blur. The plots often escalate from intimate betrayal into broader consequences like crime or cover-ups, driving towards a conclusion where no one emerges unscathed.

Why These Movies?

Movies in this thread are grouped by their core narrative engine: a deliberate test of trust within a close relationship. They share a tense, paranoid tone, a steady pace that relentlessly tightens the screws, and a heavy emotional weight derived from the profound breach of intimacy. The experience is defined by cynical fatalism and the destructive fallout of treating love as a game.

Claustrophobic Thrillers of Entrapment like Tempted

Characters become ensnared in traps of their own making, with no clean escape.For viewers who appreciated the escalating dread and inescapable consequences in Tempted, this section highlights similar movies. Find tense, high-intensity thrillers where characters are caught in a tightening web of their own lies, leading to violent showdowns and emotionally heavy, bittersweet conclusions.

claustrophobictensefatalisticsuspensefultreacherouscynicalparanoid

Narrative Summary

The narrative pattern involves a protagonist who, often through a single morally questionable decision, sets in motion a series of events that close in around them. The story structure feels like a vise tightening, with each attempt to fix a problem creating a worse one. The journey is one of escalating stakes and diminishing options, forcing characters into corners where violence or further betrayal becomes the only way out, resulting in profound personal loss.

Why These Movies?

These films are united by their shared vibe of claustrophobia and inescapable consequences. They deliver a consistent tone of tense dread, a steady pacing that builds relentlessly to a high-intensity climax, and a complex interweaving of personal and criminal dilemmas. The overall experience is characterized by a heavy, fatalistic mood and a conclusion that offers no true victory.

Unlock the Full Story of Tempted

Don't stop at just watching — explore Tempted in full detail. From the complete plot summary and scene-by-scene timeline to character breakdowns, thematic analysis, and a deep dive into the ending — every page helps you truly understand what Tempted is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.

Tempted Summary

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Tempted Summary

Tempted Timeline

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Tempted Timeline

Tempted Spoiler-Free Summary

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Tempted Spoiler-Free Summary

More About Tempted

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