At 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.
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 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 CriticA disappointing script lets down the film despite its lavish costuming and consummate cast.
07/22/09
Top CriticThe intense chemistry between Pfeiffer and Friend is what really elevates Cheri above the sum of its slender parts.
07/22/09
Top 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 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 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 CriticRemember Boyle and MacDonald's names: you'll be hearing them a lot when awards season comes around.
07/24/09
Top CriticIf the devil is in the detail, this is a devil of a film
07/16/09
Top CriticIf I conclude that the film is ultimately a touch on the trivial side, I do not believe that I am accusing it of anything that the filmmakers didn't intend it to be.
07/01/09
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
Cheri is a serviceable period piece, but not much more.
06/30/09
Frears revels in the painted silks and hothouse flowers of the era ... Friend often seems carved from alabaster... Pfeiffer is ... [t]rue to Colette's vision ... alternately steely and pliable, willing to bend yet unable to break.
07/10/09
The film itself, though, is all dressed up with nowhere to go.
06/26/09
Where 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
Chéri is far from dull, thanks in particular to Pfeiffer’s languorously nuanced performance as a striking beauty whose dalliance with a boy first flatters her, then makes her feel her age and the emptiness of her fiercely independent life.
06/25/09
Modestly engaging story is enriched by delicious acting to become a good adult alternative to Transformers and Hogwarts this summer.
06/27/09
If the movie were better -- less swoony, more relentless -- it might be unbearable to watch. As it is, Cheri touches on the insecure egotism of courtesans and movie stars with a knowing firmness.
06/25/09
It is all beautifully costumed and set --items that should not be taken for granted.
02/27/09
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