Dear Reader: Update, Movie Review Intelligence will
continue publishing this website through June (more...)
Search a Movie:
CHERIMovie Reviews
Period drama based on Colette's 1920 novel about courtesans (female companions of noblemen who occupied the royal courts) working their way up through the ranks of high society. Cast:Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathy Bates, Rupert Friend, Felicity JonesDirector:Stephen FrearsRelease Date:June 26, 2009DVD Release:October 20, 2009From:MiramaxRating:RLength:1 hr 32 min
Cheri played in key cities to good not great reviews. • Elizabeth Weitzman wrote in the New York Daily News, "...the movie's shallow amusements do make for an ideal guilty pleasure..." • And Colette Bancroft wrote in the St. Petersburg Times, "Like most movies based on great books, this one loses many layers, but it does reflect one of the novel's richest themes." More Reviews Below...
Mary Pols, Time: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...a slight affair... Emotionally speaking, the pacing is languorous; almost all of the film's impact is delivered in its last minutes, when you've almost given up on it."(See all of Mary Pols's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 674 words, 06/26/09
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: EXCELLENT(cg) "...an overly slender movie, yet its images of Belle Epoque high life are delectably lush, and if there were more to the story, it might not have such a delicate charm."(See all of Owen Gleiberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 344 words, 07/03/09
Christy Lemire, Associated Press: MODERATE(cg) "Pfeiffer is luminous as ever... But the romance in which she finds herself, the one that supposedly upends her carefully crafted world, is totally implausible from the start."(See all of Christy Lemire's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 511 words, 06/25/09
Claudia Puig, USA Today: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Stephen Frears returns to the naughty folderol of his 'Dangerous Liaisons'... While the humor has its droll moments, the dialogue is more vapid than clever."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 395 words, 06/26/09
we have an app for when you're out and about
get our iPhone app... or get our mobile web app...
movie review intelligence
NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (11 Reviews)
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: MODERATE "...you see the frailty and the strength, yet you rarely experience either with the depth of feeling you might because of the palpable uneasiness surrounding the performance."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 949 words, 06/26/09
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...the movie's shallow amusements do make for an ideal guilty pleasure, especially since the actors seem to be having so much fun."(See all of Elizabeth Weitzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 355 words, 06/26/09
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: OUTSTANDING(cg) "The most emotional moments at the end occur off-screen... That is as it should be. Some things don't happen to people. They happen about them."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 857 words, 06/25/09
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times/Chicago Tribune: VERY GOOD "Pfeiffer's reappearance in her best role in quite some time, underlines not only how much she's been missed but also how much the world of film has lost by her absence."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 718 words, 06/26/09
Lou Lumenick, New York Post: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "The movie is a visual feast... But it's hard to believe that the smart Lea would remain interested for six hours, much less six years, with the vapid Chéri."(See all of Lou Lumenick's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 334 words, 06/26/09
David Edelstein, New York Magazine: MODERATE "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."(See all of David Edelstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 191 words, 06/22/09
Stephen Cole, Toronto Globe & Mail: MODERATE(cg) "...really doesn't work because its central love story lacks dramatic force or even enough fun scenes to keep us going."(See all of Stephen Cole's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 650 words, 06/26/09
Susan G. Cole, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "...there's nothing dangerous here, and Hampton's script skimps on the bitchy one-liners, possibly because the screenplay so seriously truncates Colette's novel."(See all of Susan G. Cole's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 330 words, 06/25/09
KEY CITIES (17 Reviews)
John Anderson, Washington Post: MODERATE(cg) "...looks terrific, if a bit gauzy at times, and Frears is never at rest. Still, the movie bogs down by going nowhere other than inside its characters."(See all of John Anderson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 621 words, 06/26/09
Mick LaSalle, Houston Chronicle/San Francisco Chronicle: OUTSTANDING(cg) "In addition to the splendor of the performances, the wit of the script and the rightness of the direction, the film's physical beauty is part of its allure."(See all of Mick LaSalle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 690 words, 06/26/09
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "If you're going to watch a movie about the trials and tribulations of the idle rich, they'd better be compelling. Friend too often comes off as a brat who doesn't care..."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 508 words, 06/26/09
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: VERY GOOD(cg) "What makes this worth your while is that its true subjects are women and age, and its observations apply to both 19th-century France and the modern film industry."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 759 words, 06/26/09
Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times: VERY GOOD(cg) "The May-December love story is beautiful -- but also ultimately haunting.... it's so ravishing you want to buy it dinner and send a sentimental note the next day."(See all of Moira Macdonald's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 541 words, 06/26/09
Julie E. Washington, Cleveland Plain-Dealer: MODERATE(cg) "...has a frivolous tone, lent by a bouncy soundtrack and annoying voiceover, that's incongruous with the heart-wrenching things the characters go through."(See all of Julie E. Washington's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 341 words, 06/30/09
Shawn Levy, Portland Oregonian: MODERATE(cg) "...pretty, tepid and dull, enlivened only intermittently by drolleries plucked whole from the Colette tales on which it is based."(See all of Shawn Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 171 words, 06/26/09
Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: VERY GOOD(cg) "...if you're in the mood for a warm bath rather than a quick shower, you might find this bittersweet period piece quite moving."(See all of Calvin Wilson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 323 words, 06/26/09
Colette Bancroft, St. Petersburg Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...very beautiful but short on substance.... Like most movies based on great books, this one loses many layers, but it does reflect one of the novel's richest themes."(See all of Colette Bancroft's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 583 words, 07/02/09
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Friend is all hair and cleft chin and pout, here, a blank slate.... a period piece in which the settings are fab, but the liaisons aren't dangerous, or even romantic."(See all of Roger Moore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 802 words, 06/26/09
Michael Sragow, Baltimore Sun: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Michelle Pfeiffer's performance as Colette's 49-year-old courtesan, Lea de Lonval, provides a rare sensual depiction of maturity and aging."(See all of Michael Sragow's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 735 words, 07/01/09
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: MODERATE(cg) "...uneven... The goings-on are a bar of soap that bobs on the surface. With nothing truly at risk of being lost, we're left to ask, why are we here?"(See all of Lisa Kennedy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 409 words, 06/26/09
Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix: MODERATE(cg) "Frears and screenwriter Christopher Hampton (not to mention Pfeiffer) fail to recapture the arch and melancholy tone of their 'Dangerous Liaisons.' "(See all of Peter Keough's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 156 words, 06/25/09
Susan G. Cole, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "...there's nothing dangerous here, and Hampton's script skimps on the bitchy one-liners, possibly because the screenplay so seriously truncates Colette's novel."(See all of Susan G. Cole's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 330 words, 06/25/09
HIGHBROW PRESS (2 Reviews)
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: MODERATE "...you see the frailty and the strength, yet you rarely experience either with the depth of feeling you might because of the palpable uneasiness surrounding the performance."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 949 words, 06/26/09
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: VERY GOOD "Pfeiffer's reappearance in her best role in quite some time, underlines not only how much she's been missed but also how much the world of film has lost by her absence."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 718 words, 06/26/09
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: VERY GOOD "Pfeiffer's reappearance in her best role in quite some time, underlines not only how much she's been missed but also how much the world of film has lost by her absence."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 718 words, 06/26/09
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: MODERATE "...you see the frailty and the strength, yet you rarely experience either with the depth of feeling you might because of the palpable uneasiness surrounding the performance."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 949 words, 06/26/09
20.1 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Cheri's reviews are separated by an average 20.1 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Coverage:Cheri's reviews cover 80.5% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 18,785 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 470 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 12.3 Hours After Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Cheri's reviews on average broke 12.3 hours after opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Cheri's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Mobile Web App version 1.2 shows a list of all current movies and review information. You can click through to the cast, director, synopsis, release date and rating on page two, plus individual reviews on page three. The information is updated on a live/real-time basis. You can also search our database of films. Designed for when you're on the move and want the latest info, this app will work on any mobile web browser. From your mobile device -- only from a mobile device -- open our Mobile Web App here...
