Cheri 2009

Ben Lyons, At the Movies: Where is the passion? Where is the heat? Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: It's not a good sign when you have to take the movie's word for it that the lovers at its center are really, really into each other. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: 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. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: This wonderfully gifted actress, whose beauty has sometimes distracted from her abilities, here makes Cheri something rare and haunting. Read more

Tasha Robinson, AV Club: Cheri is far from dull, thanks in particular to Pfeiffer's languorously nuanced performance as a striking beauty whose dalliance with a boy first flatters her, then makes her feel her age and the emptiness of her fiercely independent life. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Cheri is a serviceable period piece, but not much more. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: 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. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: It's the kind of refined, delicate acting Pfeiffer does so well, and it's a further reminder of how much we've missed her since she's been away. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: With nothing truly at risk of being lost, we're left to ask, why are we here? Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: There just isn't enough beneath the surface in Cheri to justify all the talent on hand. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: These two lovebirds are playfully mismatched, and that's just why they fall for each other. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: A movie like Cheri needs the time and space of The Age of Innocence. Instead, it's rushed along in an hour and 40 minutes. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Like the exquisite costumes, the scenery is as gorgeous as most of the cast, providing the perfect backdrop for some unabashed escapism. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: It's hard to believe that the smart Lea would remain interested for six hours, much less six years, with the vapid Cheri. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Frears and his Liaisons screenwriter, Christopher Hampton, give us a period piece in which the settings are fab, but the liaisons aren't dangerous, or even romantic. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: On the page the narrator's tone is clearer than it is on-screen, where images dominate dialogue. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Cheri is an engaging romantic melodrama that provides an authentic sense of time and place. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The success of Stephen Frears' film Cheri begins with its casting. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: With Pfeiffer, 50, radiating uncommon beauty, grace and feeling, Frears uncovers a fragile story's grieving heart. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: Cheri is a perfect example of a movie that gets many of the details right and the vibe all wrong. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: [Pfeiffer's] latest film, Cheri, finds her at the height of her ability, in a role worthy of her maturity and emotional intelligence. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Cheri is a sad, intelligent film about coming of age late in life, looking in the mirror and wondering, "What happened?" Read more

Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: 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. Read more

Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail: Cheri really doesn't work because its central love story lacks dramatic force or even enough fun scenes to keep us going. Read more

Bruce Demara, Toronto Star: By the end, it almost seems as if Frears has wearied of the tale, bringing in the narrator to dispatch Cheri to his fate (an unhappy one) in a few well-modulated sentences. Read more

Mary F. Pols, TIME Magazine: The movie speaks to issues of traditional desirability and dignity, specifically to the point in a woman's life when she either makes decisions about how well those two qualities can exist together or has them made for her. Read more

Ben Kenigsberg, Time Out: Read more

Wally Hammond, Time Out: The multi-talented and adaptable director Stephen Frears has produced one of his most dull, airless and conventional films. Read more

Nicolas Rapold, Time Out: Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Cheri, like the character, is an entertaining bauble without much on its mind. Read more

Melissa Anderson, Village Voice: Pfeiffer, uncertain how to convey the older, wiser erotomane, resorts to sounding like Samantha Jones auditioning for Masterpiece Theater, her decolletage the only part of this movie getting any air. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: The movie bogs down by going nowhere other than inside its characters, who are intensely passionate but of an era more curious than emotionally relevant. Read more