Michelle Pfeiffer is a wh*re. Not really, but in this, my second in a row of Michelle Pfeiffer movies that have gone basically straight to dvd, she plays a retired courtesan in 1900's France who begins an relationship with a much younger man. This movie is the second teaming of director Stephen Frears and Pfeiffer, the first being the amazing Dangerous Liasons, which was also about a twisted romance in France. That movie was fantastic -- brilliant acting by John Malkovich and Glenn Close and a wonderful, twisted tale of morale decay, seduction, and redemption. This is not. I'm not really sure what this is. It is actually closer to another one of Michelle's historical romance movies, Age of Innocence, a movie that was also about denied love back in the 1870's. So if you liked that then maybe this is worth a try. If not...
At the start of Cheri, we are told that at this time in France courtesans, if they were good, were able to become ridiculously wealthy and that Lea (played by Michelle Pfeiffer) had been very good. Now she seems to be retired with her mansion and wealth. Then one day visiting another retired courtesan, she becomes intriged by the courtesans son. Thus they begin a long affair, seeming to do little but sleep and enjoy each others company. Then one day Lea finds out Cheri's mother has arranged for him to marry the daughter of another wealthy courtesan. It is an odd time. I'm not sure I really thought they cared for each other, what with the quips and banter, but now they are genuinely sad, although again hiding it behind lots of quips and banter. (I guess that's just France in 1900, slight jokes and good manners to cover any real feelings.) Cheri gets married and goes off with his wife. They spend nine months apart, both of them miserable and trying to deal with the situation. Finally they both return to France. Cheri comes to see Lea and tells her he loves her and Lea thinks that it means they will run off together. But no. He has come back to get the strength to go be a husband. He remembers how Lea told him to be kind to his wife and how she is good and so he is going to do the right thing and he leaves her.
That's it.
Um...for me it didn't do much. There are parts with the banter and everything that was good. Pfeiffer is great at playing one emotional surface, yet showing you a completely different emotion going on underneath. Kathy Bates is in it too and she's good. But the story was just...not much. I'm not sure if it's meant to be a tragedy -- two people who love each other but can't be together -- except it's hard to feel for them because they never really fight for their love. Much like AGE OF INNOCENCE, they resign themselves to do the right thing. I'm not sure what I was supposed to take away from it. Personally I would rather see people fight for what they love then resign themselves to unhappiness. Whereas DANGEROUS LIASONS has a tragic end it is necessary to save the woman he loves and gives him a kind of redemption, here it just felt like they quit.
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