Cheri

Cheri takes place in the late 19th century in France, when courtesans were able to maintain semi-respectable status; not to mention achieve considerable wealth if they were smart. Michelle Pfeiffer plays one such high end rent girl named Lea, and she has used her considerable skills and beauty to achieve quite a comfortable lifestyle. Kathy Bates is Madame Peloux, and although not nearly as beautiful as Lea, has managed to use these same skills to live a life of leisure and luxury. She has a son, the Cheri of the title, who's young and spoiled, and living a life of excess; something that mom would like to put a stop to. Her solution is to reacquaint him with Lea, who he has known since childhood, and who incidentally gave him his nickname of the title. We should all be so lucky. Cheri, played by Rupert Friend, late of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, is perfectly cast as the young pleasure-seeker, as is Ms. Pfeiffer in her role. Their semi-incestuous liaison stretches out a lot longer than anyone expected, and ends up having a deep effect on both of their lives. Although I basically enjoyed the film, and all of the performances, I also felt felt that it could have moved along at a quicker pace. If you enjoy attention to period detail, including costumes and decor and the like, then you could probably add a half a star. Also, not that I like employing sexist cliches, but, most would probably consider this a "women's" picture, and I'm sure that wives and girlfriends will enjoy it more than their guys.

Rating - 2 1/2 Stars