Stellar cast, topnotch director, impressive design%u2014all the components for a rich satisfying movie, but without a compelling story it's somewhat forgettable.
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06/26/09
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Cheri (2009)
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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
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
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
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
Cheri radiates quality in every department, and - whether it's popular or not - this splendid achievement establishes him as one of Britain's very best film producers.
05/08/09
Cheri, like the character, is an entertaining bauble without much on its mind.
06/26/09
Chéri is a sad, intelligent film about coming of age late in life, looking in the mirror and wondering, "What happened?"
06/26/09
Thanks to a radiant performance from Michelle Pfeiffer, 'Chéri' occasionally overcomes a storyline that never quite develops momentum.
07/01/09
Pfeiffer and Friend are captivating in every scene they share.
06/30/09
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.
07/28/09
Chéri looks a real treat, which is half the battle. It may not quite give the measure of Colette, nor Frears at his absolute best, but you don’t have to look at it through rose-tinted glasses to luxuriate in its splendour.
05/08/09
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.
07/22/09
While Chéri occasionally plods along, Pfeiffer and Friend make up for those flaws by creating a passionate sexual chemistry on screen.
06/28/09
It’s not a film of any great pungency. In the title role, Rupert Friend is perhaps even more callow than the part requires, and the wry narration, read by Frears, is wrongly pitched. The main drawback, however, is the not terribly exciting source material
05/13/09
Like the exquisite costumes, the scenery is as gorgeous as most of the cast, providing the perfect backdrop for some unabashed escapism.
06/26/09
Mildly diverting but inconsequential, this costume drama reteams Pfeiffer, who's terrific as the aging courtesane but deserves better for a comeback, scribe Hampton and helmer Frears decades after their far superior collaboration on Dangerous Liaisons.
04/19/09
This costume drama doesn't have nearly as much bite as [Dangerous Liaisons], though the age reversal of its central romance gives it a certain topicality.
06/26/09
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.
07/24/09
Cheri is an engaging romantic melodrama that provides an authentic sense of time and place.
06/25/09
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