by John Bizub
If there are two filmmakers from whom people will go and see any new project released, it is the Russo Brothers. The pair, Joe and Anthony, have made some of the highest grossing blockbusters of all time and created two of the most satisfying entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, the duo have decided to step away from the MCU and delve into Oscar-caliber projects – Cherry is their latest. Starring Tom Holland, it tells the story of Nico Walker and the outrageous life he has lived as a student, veteran, junkie and a bank robber. This film has been creating some Oscar buzz recently due to Holland stepping out of the blockbuster realm and into higher demand roles.
While I will praise Holland in the role, (I thought his performance was pretty strong) I do not think he should be receiving any awards recognition. This goes not just for Holland, but for the film entirely. Cherry is a lot of different things at once and a good movie is not one of them. To put it simply, Cherry is a disaster of a film.
The film takes inspiration from many Martin Scorsese films such as Goodfellas and The Wolf of Wall Street and Robert Zemeckis’ Forrest Gump. What makes those films reach their goal is that they say something about their subject as a person and there is a theme throughout. We learn nothing about Nico; all we know are the series of events that happened to him and that he suffers from PTSD. There is no motivation for his character to do these things. The film is poorly written. Many of the lines spoken by Holland and its supporting cast come out as laughable and its structure feels very messy, which is a shame because there is a decent story here: a story about finding your purpose and living your life to the fullest. But, it’s displayed through unnecessary and questionable stylistic choices that make this film seem like it was directed by five different filmmakers.
This film’s pacing is also all over the place, at times being a quippy and fast movie, while at other times feeling slow and bothersome. Its bloated 143 minute runtime does not feel justified here and many scenes could have been taken out. The narration is poorly done and at times feels unfocused, while the direction feels very aimless. These crazy things Rico takes part in do not really fit the whole of the story.
As for the supporting cast, they are weak compared to Holland. Some feel like they are in a completely different movie. There are subplots that appear and forgotten by the film’s end, or are just thrown around in passing like it is nothing. The score is very strange. At times it is beautiful and at others, very annoying. The editing feels choppy. Some shots are too short and others too long.
Cherry feels like a dart board of a film. Different ideas are being thrown but none really stick the landing the Russo’s want them to. Tom Holland is pretty good as the leading role while the supporting cast lack that ability. The obnoxious stylistic choices ruin what could be an interestingly told story. The pacing and its bloated run time also ruin the film, making a 2 hour and 23 minute film feel like a 3 hour film. I appreciate what the Russo Brothers are attempting to make by being outside the box of their traditional filmmaking. However, they are not the filmmakers to adapt this story.
Grade: D-