The Film:

After six years of being only a courtesan (a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person) in the early 19^th century France, the aging Lea de Lonval (Michelle Pfeiffer) begins to have desires of love with the ravishing but yet very young, Cheri (Rupert Friend) who is the son of her longtime business rival, Madame Peloux (Kathy Bates). Although both Cheri and Lonval have lounged around for some time, it becomes apparent that they are falling for each other. When this is seen by Peloux, she arranges a marriage between her son and a young bride, Edmee (Felicity Jones).  Cheri becomes caught between the decision of his young wife and lifelong love.

Romantic movies are always prototyped as having the usual storyline of two people bound to be together from birth. However, Cheri has a slightly different tone with its obvious age difference between the two lovers. Being that Lonval is aging and Cheri is not yet in his twenties, the relationship is frowned upon. This stipulation adds a slight twist along with Cheri’s indecisiveness between the two women. These additions to the story do throw the viewer for a loop along with the sad conclusion. However, the actual way it was played out, didn’t catch the heart like so many romantics do. The main cast of Pfeiffer and Friend do a superb job of showcasing their talent in what is a “hit or miss” movie. The sincerity of their personal characters is almost perfect. The chemistry between the two seems to be a bit comfortable with each other despite the age difference which causes a difficulty as seen in a few scenes throughout the movie.

Rating:

Tags: Cheri, Felicity Jones, Kathy Bates, Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Friend