Review: Cheri (2009)

[Tim Voon]

Film Review - Cheri 2009
By Tim Voon
3 out of 5 stars

I always feel that Michelle Pfeiffer is at her best when seen in a
period piece. Her delicate, porcelain features just seems to
compliment the silk and satin cushions, antique china and silver ware.
Two films which show her at her best are period dramas - DANGEROUS
LIASONS and the beautiful Scorsese classic, THE AGE OF INNOCENCE. I
have to say she looks amazing for her age and it is with great grace
and beauty she returns to a period drama.

CHERI is set in 19th Century France in the world of high class
courtesans and upper class excess. During this period of time, the
world was filled with wealthy and powerful men made rich by the
industrial revolution. In this world of excess, there is a class of
professional courtesans who seek out the wealthy, marry them if
possible and if not obtain as much riches before the relationship
ends. Lea de Lonval (Michelle Pfeiffer) is one of these courtesans.
She is the most beautiful of them all, but not necessary the most
successful. This prize belongs to her rival Madam Peloux (Kathy
Bates). How this is possible, Kathy is no Michelle in the looks or
figure department? It is explained that the now retired, older Madam
Peloux was a great beauty in her heyday. It is her son Cheri (Rupert
Friend) that this movie is named after.

The movie starts slowly, but it is when the characters of Michelle
Pfeiffer and Rupert Friend start up a relationship that things get
interesting. Yes, this is a movie about romance and love making
between a younger man and an older woman. For some of you this may be
considered erotically arousing, but I was more fascinated by the
complexities of the relationship. What starts of us an explosion of
sensual desires, settles into a kind of friendship seen in couples
after years of marriage - best friends as one would say. These are
after all the relationships that last. However, because of the
constrictions of society and expectations of others, Cheri succumbs to
pressure and marries a younger woman.

Michelle Pfeiffer is wonderful as the ageing courtesan, who begins to
realise that her beauty is fading and that she cannot compete with a
younger, more beautiful woman. Her performance has a tone of sadness
about it, maybe a reflection also of her position in the industry as
an ageing actress. Rupert Friend looks very much like another Orlando
Bloom, puts in a petulant, feisty performance as the spoilt Cheri, who
realises that his greatest mistake in life was not marrying the woman
he loved. Kathy Bates is always a delight on screen, she bounces about
like an over opinionated courtesan who has nothing better to do in her
retirement than nose into everybody else's business.

CHERI is a beautiful period study about the key choices we make in
life. What would our lives be like if we found that one special person
who most suited us, but because of the differences of age and
circumstance, remain forever apart?



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