Cheri (2009)
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
| Tomatometer | Critic | Review | Category |
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 3.5/5 |
The film is a comedy of manners with a powerful undercurrent of tragedy. Cheri is funny, sad and charming, and the ending may shock you. Full Review |
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 2/5 |
Sadly 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. Full Review |
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3/5 |
Remember Boyle and MacDonald's names: you'll be hearing them a lot when awards season comes around. Full Review |
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3/5 |
Stretching 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. Full Review |
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3.5/5 |
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. Full Review |
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3/5 |
The intense chemistry between Pfeiffer and Friend is what really elevates Cheri above the sum of its slender parts. Full Review |
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3/5 |
While 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. Full Review |
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A disappointing script lets down the film despite its lavish costuming and consummate cast. Full Review |
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If the devil is in the detail, this is a devil of a film Full Review |
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8/10 |
Frears does a fine job of capturing the look of turn-of-the-century France, as well as the essence of Colette's story. Full Review |
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3.5/5 |
Clever, charming, and slightly superficial, Cheri is the kind of pert period piece that gets by on a great deal of creative goodwill. Full Review |
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(T)he chemistry of these performers makes it not just believable but almost inevitable: emotionally guarded beauties who inadvertently allow affection into their relationship. Full Review |
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66/100 |
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. Full Review |
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C- |
A limp whore's tale set in the turn of the 20th-century in Paris. Full Review |
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What a drag it is getting old. Full Review |
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The challenge here is to make a film in which the protagonists frequently say one thing and feel another. It's a film which has to work on two levels, and it does. Full Review |
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2.5/4 |
Unlike [Michelle] Pfeiffer, the script for Cheri has a tendency to sag noticeably here and there. She manages to pull the most out of it, however. Full Review |
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D+ |
Lying on a mattress and staring out with inarticulate wistfulness is to this film what answering the phone and marveling at the odd stag were to Frears's The Queen. Full Review |
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3/4 |
The camera's gaze is so steady in the lengthy final shot that we can't help but notice the imperfections in even Pfeiffer's famously lovely aspect, especially when the only noise we hear on the soundtrack is the muffled but ruthless ticking of a clock. Full Review |
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Chéri's saga of bad parenting ostensibly has to do with designs and rituals of love. Full Review |
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