MovieChat Forums > The Temptations (1998) Discussion > I know this topic has previously been po...

I know this topic has previously been posted, but...

posted 12 years ago by chihuahuaboydh-724-612855
6 replies | jump to latest

...I thought I'd mention it just in case it had been removed. Of the main actors in the movie, which one do you think looks like their actual Temptations counterpart? For me, it is Leon's spitting-image likeness of David Ruffin, as Leon played the role to perfection - capturing Ruffin's nuances & personality 100%! He even got David's southern drawl vocal down pat!!! A great cast of actors that made for the best musical group documentary of all-time!

THE TEMPTATIONS FOREVER!!!

Larry Appleton: "I have..."
Balki Bartokomous: "Oh, God!"
Larry Appleton: "...a plan!"

[–] Sparky48 12 years ago

Agreed. The shame of it all is that had this movie aired in the theater, rather than on TV, Leon would have easily won an Oscar nomination--and he could have had a strong chance to win an Oscar for this brilliant performance.

[–] chihuahuaboydh-724-612855 12 years ago

Agreed! Leon would've won that Oscar with no contest!!! "The Temptations" was a cinema-worthy performance, & would have most likely cleaned up at the box office! This "mini-series" is better than most of the Hollywood-type films that play in the theaters - bar none!

Larry Appleton: "I have..."
Balki Bartokomous: "Oh, God!"
Larry Appleton: "...a plan!"

[–] Sparky48 12 years ago

Agreed again. I wonder why it wasn't ever released in the theater? The quality was much better than "made for TV," and because of the legendary status of the Temps, the movie would have done fairly well at the box office. Big mistake.

[–] Kelea7 12 years ago

Over the years I've thought about that also but I've come to realize that if the studios were involved in this movie, it probably wouldn't have been even as accurate as it was. They took some big liberties with this mini-series but I cringe to think what a huge studio would have done with it. However it is possible that they would not have fudged the project seeing as there are several decent to good projects that are similar. But it's interesting to see what they all had to go through to get made. I also think a miniseries allowed them to do things they wouldn't have been able to do with a movie, like possibly less time constraints. Though there have been long movies in theaters it's still a tough call. They ARE the Temptations but would the big studios be willing to take a chance on them? The big wigs get funny with that sometimes.

[–] b-touch 12 years ago

It wasn't released in a theater because it wasn't made as a singular film - it was produced as a two-part miniseries, and all cut together runs three hours without commercials - far too long for a theatrical release.

Otis originally wanted a Temptations movie rather than a miniseries, but Suzanne de Passe and the other producers felt the story (because of its length and the ability to reach a larger audience faster) worked better as a miniseries.

Getting into technicals, although it was shot on film, the miniseries was edited and mastered on video tape, so it couldn't be released as a feature film (at least not properly).

[–] jefgg 10 years ago

I can't think of better casting in a biopic than Leon as David Ruffin.