Only a fine performance from Pfeiffer and a couple of decent lines from Bates made it bearable.
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05/08/09
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Cheri (2009)
54
%
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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.
Theatrical Release:Jun 26, 2009 Limited
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
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Reviews for Cheri
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
Stellar cast, topnotch director, impressive design%u2014all the components for a rich satisfying movie, but without a compelling story it's somewhat forgettable.
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 a very enjoyable and fascinating cinematic experience. Despite being set almost a century ago, the movie's central themes are very relevant to our age-obsessed contemporary society.
05/08/09
Clever, charming, and slightly superficial, Cheri is the kind of pert period piece that gets by on a great deal of creative goodwill.
10/22/09
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
A disappointing script lets down the film despite its lavish costuming and consummate cast.
07/22/09
Frears takes Hampton's wet-lipped hint and bathes the film in a booze-soaked haze of opulence and intolerance, employing masterful cinematographer Darius Khondji to deliver bold images.
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
Cheri may be too leisurely paced for the Fast & Furious and Terminator Salvation crowd. But if you're in the mood for a warm bath rather than a quick shower, you might find this bittersweet period piece quite moving.
06/26/09
On the page the narrator's tone is clearer than it is on-screen, where images dominate dialogue.
06/26/09
Top CriticGetting to see Michelle Pfeiffer in a big role is almost worth sitting though Cheri. But not quite.
06/26/09
Pfeiffer is curiously cold and brittle, while Friend never allows us to feel his character's anguish when he realizes the error of leaving Lea.
06/26/09
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