The Temptations Movie Review 1998

Miniseries bio of the Motown group from its high school beginnings in 1958 (under various names) through a meeting with Motown founder Berry Gordy (Babatunde) and major success in the '60s. Told from the viewpoint of the last original Temp, Otis Williams (Whitfield), as he and buddies Melvin Franklin (Woodside) and Paul Williams (Payton) hook up with first lead singer Eddie Kendricks (Brooks). When Kendricks goes solo it's the turn of David Ruffin (Leon) but the group suffers various ego traumas and tragedies. Naturally, the music's the real highlight.

Distribution

Artisan Entertainment, 2700 Colorado Ave., Ste. 200, Santa Monica, CA 90404, Phone: (310)449-9200, Fax: (310)255-3730, URL: http://www.artisanent.com, Remarks: Does not handle retail queries from consumers; contact your local video distributor.

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 150 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Showbiz Musicals, Biopics: Musicians, African America, Drug Use & Abuse

Screenplay

Kevin Arkadie, Robert P. Johnson

Cast

Charles Malik Whitfield, DB Woodside, Terron Brooks, Christian Payton, Leon, Alan Rosenberg, Obba Babatunde, Charles Ley, Tina Lifford, Gina Ravera, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Chaz Lamar Shepherd

Cinematography

Jamie Anderson

Director

Allan Arkush

Producer

Jay Benson, Suzanne Coston, David Picker, Suzanne de Passe, de Passe Entertainment, Hallmark Entertainment