No Cherry for Cheri

Based on the 1920s novel by French writer Colette, Cheri is a tragic comedy love story set in Paris in the early 20th Century. A time considered the twilight of the ‘Belle Époque’, literally the ‘beautiful era’.

Directed by Stephen Frears, (The Queen), screenplay by Christopher Hampton, (Atonement) and starring, Michelle Pfeiffer, (Hairspray), Kathy Bates, (Fried Green Tomatoes) and Rupert Friend, (The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas).

So it’s a cast and crew with lots of talent, in fact Frears, Hampton and Pfeiffer all worked together on 'Dangerous Liaisons' in 1988. Unfortunately they do not recreate the magic in this offering, somewhere in the mix things get a little lost.

The film is beautifully shot and sumptuously dressed but doesn’t quite work as the tragedy/comedy it sets out to be. Sure there are some awfully good individual moments but too few of them to make an entire film.

The plot is simple enough; aging courtesan Lea de Lonval, (Pfeiffer), is considering retirement she agrees to help her former colleague and sometime rival Madame Peloux, (Bates), by taking Peloux’s 19 year old son Fred aka Cheri, (Friend), under her wing and save him from a life of louche hedonism. For six years Lea teaches Cheri the art of love and life and they settle into a life of easy domesticity. Just as Lea seems prepared to make a commitment Cheri is married off to the daughter of another courtesan. Cheri and Lea who have unwittingly fallen for each other must now come to terms with their lives being lived apart.

Pfeiffer handles the role of Lea with a sense of style and class, allowing us, every now and then, to peak through the veneer of world weariness and see the vulnerability beneath as she confronts her lost love and lost youth.

Bates, as Peloux, is conniving, manipulative, vengeful and petty, her performance is both over the top and larger than life. Aware that her looks and figure have long since departed she has retreated into a world of venality. Clearly she must have been a hit as a courtesan because she looks as if she has eaten her way through many a fortune.

Friend, (Cheri), is the weakest character. Frears has chosen one of those mop top almost androgenous man/boys that England seems to produce by the bucket load, think ‘Twilight’ and ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’, to play the part of the ‘beautiful youth’ who has seen it all, done it all and been bored by most of it. Friend doesn’t excite, in fact he is so wet and annoying that I found it hard to understand why Lea, a sophisticated woman in need of intellectual stimulation would have put up with him for so long. Leaving aside this one major flaw, it’s an easy film to watch and luxuriate in.

One unkind critic, not me, summed it as, “A cougar catches a twink, loses a twink and then tries to catch him again.”

There are some extremely camp moments and if awards are ever handed out for ‘chewing the scenery’ then surely the two older ‘women’ playing cards will win hands down.

The voiceover that moves the story forward and then wraps up the rather tragic and unseen ending is spoken by an uncredited Stephen Frears.

Cheri will be in general release from July 23.