Review: Cherry

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We meet Cherry (Tom Holland) as your average college kid experimenting with weed he has a crush on a girl in one of his classes, Emily (Ciara Bravo) and then begin dating. They break up, and in his heartbreak he joins the army, goes to war, comes home with severe PTSD and ends up addicted to drugs. Emily also gets addicted, and Cherry starts robbing banks to support their habit.

The Russo Brothers are apparently really tired of directing Marvel movies, so they decided to throw EVERY trick they learned in film school into this absolute mess of a film. The funny thing is, if you listen to interviews this film is supposed to say something about the opioid crisis and PTSD from war. Yet, it says nothing. Cherry never reflects on these feelings and his only scene with a psychiatrist is just a quick segue into him getting prescribed OxyContin for the first time. 

This film has everything. Plenty of operatic overtures, "artful" flashback shots, voiceovers, breaking the fourth wall, and camera shots from the POV of someone's butthole. Not to mention scene after scene of what can only be described as junkie gross out porn. I kept thinking about Trainspotting, and how I never thought the scenes of the squalor those people were living in were ever as distracting as they were here.

Tom Holland is very good in this, but it was a huge mistake from his team to make this his big Oscar movie push when he was so much better (in a far better movie) with The Devil All The Time. Ciara Bravo struggles with the material she's given. I thought she was very good when she had to cry and act distraught, the rest of the time it felt like she was given no direction. This is the epitome of style over substance. It's insane to me that two directors who so effortlessly handled 20 movies worth of continuity to make a gigantic send off could also make this mess. 

Recommended: No

Grade: D

Memorable Quote: "Why are you being so sweet to me?" - Cherry (Tom Holland)

Comments

  1. Often Off TopicMarch 30, 2021 at 2:50 PM

    Definitely agree that The Devil All the Time is superior! I enjoyed this more than I thought I would but my expectations were rock bottom. It just felt like two movies stuck back to back to me.
    Oh, that butthole scene...just why!

    ReplyDelete
  2. thevoid99March 30, 2021 at 3:00 PM

    I heard pretty lukewarm reactions towards this film though Assholes Watching Movies mentioned a scene of Ciara Bravo taking a dump while in the shower.

    I don't know if I want to see it but then again, I saw Salo in its entirety.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamMarch 30, 2021 at 4:49 PM

      It's like a half a second scene in the middle of a gross montage lol. I'm sure it's got nothing on Salo.

      Delete
    2. thevoid99March 31, 2021 at 6:23 PM

      It will never beat Salo in terms of the gross factor. Fortunately, I have learned that they didn't eat actual shit in that film.

      Delete
  3. keith71_98March 31, 2021 at 8:22 AM

    "Mess" is a perfect word for it. I was kinda amazed at how unfocused and unpleasant this thing was. Definitely one I have no plans on revisiting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamApril 1, 2021 at 6:22 AM

      Not at all. Hopefully Holland can be proud of his performance at least and move on from it. What a disaster.

      Delete

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