Beautifully directed by Stephen Frears, Cheri is funny, stylish - and made with class.
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05/08/09
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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
Pfeiffer, uncertain how to convey the older, wiser erotomane, resorts to sounding like Samantha Jones auditioning for Masterpiece Theater, her décolletage the only part of this movie getting any air.
06/24/09
Top CriticA cold fish. It just lies there, too lethargic to be funny and too timid to be sexy, but not deep enough for any real drama.
06/25/09
(T)he chemistry of these performers makes it not just believable but almost inevitable: emotionally guarded beauties who inadvertently allow affection into their relationship.
10/19/09
The film works best when it's being a comedy of bad manners. Hampton has honed some glittering, dartlike lines of dialogue, and they're tossed around with poised aplomb by the immaculately dressed cast.
05/13/09
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.
07/13/09
Cheri is an engaging romantic melodrama that provides an authentic sense of time and place.
06/25/09
Top CriticThe movie looks beautiful but the story suffers, largely because the bond between Cheri and Lea is never particularly credible or compelling.
06/25/09
Michelle Pfeiffer deserved the finest vehicle for her comeback. This is the film-equivalent of a knackered Trabant with four bald tyres and a farting exhaust.
05/08/09
Sex, money and power are at the heart of the story in Cheri. What's not to like?
06/26/09
If 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
The miscast Kathy Bates' incongruous turn (she's about as French as Captain America) provides some unexpected relief in this cinematic flatline.
06/26/09
What a drag it is getting old.
07/25/09
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
Top CriticPurportedly a tale of seething emotions, Cheri almost never registers love or anguish. It’s banal.
06/30/09
Cheri strikes a jarring note right from the start.
06/25/09
Doesn't so much get anything wrong; it just fails to go oh so right.
06/26/09
...a good one for fans of period movies and Stephen Frears but left me less than satisfied.
06/25/09
...keeps one at arm's length, the subject handled with a light touch that keeps the emotions it should evoke at bay.
06/25/09
Technically, the film is spotless, with gorgeous cinematography, colourful costumes, detailed sets and a marvellous Alexandre Desplat score.
05/13/09
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