In Hawaiian, "Malama Aumakua" means "keep our family close." The film's title of "Tempted" is deceptive in that the true theme of the film is family values.
We follow the story of Emma Burke, a happily married woman with two beautiful children and a devoted husband. She works in Boston as a paralegal. But Emma's life has become mired in the rat race where she recognizes that precious ties to her family in the past have slipped away.
The death of Emma's beloved nanny named Lily Noi is the occasion for Emma to return Lily's ashes to her native Hawaii. It is there that Emma will be "tempted" by the charms of a big hulk named Kala, the son of Lily's sister, Kehau.
While Emma gets a glimpse of paradise on the beautiful island of Kauai, she also begins to open the Pandora's box of her family secrets when she learns that a neighbor named Julia is her birth mother.
In this this area that the film falls flat on its face in the slow pace and the failure to reveal details about how Emma's lout of a father ostracized Julia from the family and placed Emma under the care of Lily. The story of the father and Julia was never fully explained, and the audience kept waiting and waiting for something to happen. It was not enough for the screenwriters to simply say that the father was "a cold man" and leave it at that.
The strength of the film was the beautiful photography and the cultural details of the rite of the Ho' o Ponopono, which seeks to make things right by way of forgiveness. But the pacing of the film made this slow burner difficult to complete.
The most lively moments are those spent between Emma and Kala, where is there is some good chemistry. But it was not a good idea for Emma to inform her devoted husband about her feelings for Kala: "For a moment, he made me feel alive and free." Yes, Emma was tempted, but was it really necessary for her to drive a stake through the heart of her long-suffering husband
We follow the story of Emma Burke, a happily married woman with two beautiful children and a devoted husband. She works in Boston as a paralegal. But Emma's life has become mired in the rat race where she recognizes that precious ties to her family in the past have slipped away.
The death of Emma's beloved nanny named Lily Noi is the occasion for Emma to return Lily's ashes to her native Hawaii. It is there that Emma will be "tempted" by the charms of a big hulk named Kala, the son of Lily's sister, Kehau.
While Emma gets a glimpse of paradise on the beautiful island of Kauai, she also begins to open the Pandora's box of her family secrets when she learns that a neighbor named Julia is her birth mother.
In this this area that the film falls flat on its face in the slow pace and the failure to reveal details about how Emma's lout of a father ostracized Julia from the family and placed Emma under the care of Lily. The story of the father and Julia was never fully explained, and the audience kept waiting and waiting for something to happen. It was not enough for the screenwriters to simply say that the father was "a cold man" and leave it at that.
The strength of the film was the beautiful photography and the cultural details of the rite of the Ho' o Ponopono, which seeks to make things right by way of forgiveness. But the pacing of the film made this slow burner difficult to complete.
The most lively moments are those spent between Emma and Kala, where is there is some good chemistry. But it was not a good idea for Emma to inform her devoted husband about her feelings for Kala: "For a moment, he made me feel alive and free." Yes, Emma was tempted, but was it really necessary for her to drive a stake through the heart of her long-suffering husband