Cherry — Movie Review
by KJ Proulx
Joe and Anthony Russo (also known as “The Russo Brothers” on most of their projects together) have obviously made a name for themselves in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, directing four of their biggest films to date. Not only have they made a name for themselves in terms of audience appreciation and box office return, but also in the fact that every film they’ve worked on as directors has been praised, aside from maybe You, Me, and Dupree. I have been a big fan of their work since the series Community and have followed most of their producing work with films like 21 Bridges and Extraction. They’ve always been a duo to me that works really well together. For all of these reasons and more, I was looking forward to their first outing as directors outside of Marvel. Cherry is now streaming on Apple TV+ and here are my thoughts.
After dropping out of school and falling in love with Emily (Ciara Bravo), a character by the name of Cherry (Tom Holland) chooses to join the army as a medic. After experiencing horrors in war, he is discharged. Suffering from extreme PTSD and trying to keep his life together with Emily, he turns to drugs. Eventually leading to bank robbings and dangerous situations, this film is really just the downward spiral of a person’s life and whether or not they will make it out alive. The second half of this film had me feeling extremely uncomfortable, which is, I’m sure, was the exact intention. For that, I give the film major props, but it’s also too unfocused as an overall movie most of the time.
The first act of Cherry sets the stage in terms of the style, which didn’t work for me right off the bat. Honestly, I’m all for narration and slow motion, but it felt like nearly every other shot was either in slow motion or was being overly explained by Tom Holland. This became a distraction for me. Yes, both of these do lessen as the film progresses and focuses more on the dramatic aspects of his life, but I didn’t find myself as attached to this character as I wanted to be. I felt like I was being told everything instead of experiencing it. As I was watching Cherry, it became apparent that the directors seemed to think it was a very clever and stylistic choice to have a lot of slow-motion to accentuate certain moments, and although it worked sometimes, it began to feel redundant.
The absolute biggest strength of this film, at least in my opinion, was Tom Holland. Ever since his appearance as a much younger actor in the film The Impossible, I knew he had talent that wasn’t going away. Whether or not he chooses the best projects, he always gives scene-stealing performances in them. That description of him is absolutely in the forefront here as well. From his nearly innocent performance in the first act to finding and ruining his life in the second, I genuinely felt like I was watching someone spiral out of control. Holland sold the movie in many more ways than one in that regard.
Overall, the impact of the story is very much there, but there were too many creative choices that didn’t work for me here. Both Holland and Bravo's performances deserved a better screenplay, but they worked with what they were given. Joe and Anthony Russo are terrific filmmakers, but this one felt like they stepped out of their comfort zone in some strange ways. I never fully connected with the film, but I enjoyed the story. I can’t quite recommend this film because this subject matter is dealt with in much better films and other than some good performances and a solid story, Cherry just didn’t feel revised enough.
Rating: 3/5
Check out the trailer below:
