A disappointing script lets down the film despite its lavish costuming and consummate cast.
Comment
07/22/09
Cheri (2009)
54
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:116
Fresh:63
Rotten:53
Average Rating:5.7/10
Consensus: A too-short script and a romance lacking in heat detracts from an otherwise haughty charmer.
Australian Theatrical Release:
Jul 23, 2009 Wide
US Box Office: $2,643,292
Synopsis: Stephen Frears, director of THE QUEEN and HIGH FIDELITY, continues to demonstrate his genre-defying talent with this adaptation of a Colette novel. Set in Paris in the years before World War I,... [More]
Starring: Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathy Bates, Rupert Friend, Felicity Jones
Director: Stephen Frears
Reviews for Cheri
Top CriticSadly the few good elements of Cheri only serve to highlight the films considerable inadequacies, and the only bedroom-based action it will inspire is a comforting nap, possibly before the end of the film.
07/27/09
Top CriticThe film is a comedy of manners with a powerful undercurrent of tragedy. Cheri is funny, sad and charming, and the ending may shock you.
07/28/09
Top CriticWhile it's not likely to be as admired as much as his Dangerous Liaisons, Frears - who is heard as the narrator - has given audiences an elegant treat that's easy to escape into, and there are skilful performances by the entire ensemble.
07/22/09
Top CriticStretching out like a cat on the wide screen, Michelle Pfeiffer shows off her durable glamour in the star role of Lea de Lonval, a high-class courtesan in pre-World War I France.
07/24/09
Top CriticThe intense chemistry between Pfeiffer and Friend is what really elevates Cheri above the sum of its slender parts.
07/22/09
Top CriticIf the devil is in the detail, this is a devil of a film
07/16/09
Top CriticAt the centre of this film is the luminous Pfeiffer who knows only too well the ravages of time in an industry where youth and beauty are so valued.
07/22/09
Top CriticRemember Boyle and MacDonald's names: you'll be hearing them a lot when awards season comes around.
07/24/09
Top CriticOnly a fine performance from Pfeiffer and a couple of decent lines from Bates made it bearable.
05/08/09
Pfieffer brings a real sense of vulnerability to proceedings, but Chéri is too passive a character and Friend simply isn't able to generate enough on-screen chemistry with her to make this work.
05/08/09
Intrusive narration from Frears doesn’t help and the fact that Cheri is such a drip makes the all-consuming nature of the romance hard to swallow. The film just can’t match the elegance and wit that come so effortlessly to Pfeiffer.
05/08/09
The chemistry-free and inexplicable romantic relationship between the two lead characters causes a ripple effect that dooms the entire movie.
06/23/09
This glimpse into a decadent era has its charms, but they’re mostly visual. While Pfeiffer and Friend perform well, the script is tonally confused and lacks edge.
05/08/09
Top CriticWhere is the passion? Where is the heat?
06/29/09
Michelle Pfeiffer is quite good, but the script leaves Kathy Bates -- talented as she is -- with a bit of a cartoonish performance.
06/29/09
Cheri is a serviceable period piece, but not much more.
06/30/09
Chéri should have swept the audience off their feet and carried them to the bedroom... but instead teases them with a whiff of perfume and a flirtatious wink.
06/25/09
Scene after scene unfolds, with colourful costumes, attractive sets, knowing glances and innuendo, but also a feeling that this is a pedestrian read-through of a stage play.
10/16/09
By the end, it almost seems as if Frears has wearied of the tale, bringing in the narrator to dispatch Chéri to his fate (an unhappy one) in a few well-modulated sentences.
06/26/09
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