Chéri

R

Released Jun 26, 2009

1 hr. 32 min.

Romance

Drama

List

51%

140 Reviews

Tomatometer

39%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

When retired courtesan Charlotte (Kathy Bates) asks her former colleague, Lea (Michelle Pfeiffer) to instruct her son, Chéri (Rupert Friend), in the ways of love, the result is a passionate affair that lasts six years. But Charlotte arranges for Chéri to marry a younger woman, and insists the affair come to an end. Lea retreats to southern France, but destiny brings the two lovers together once more.

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Critics Consensus

A too-short script and a romance lacking in heat detracts from an otherwise haughty charmer.

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wendy h

In the end, you just don't care. Oh and in the beginning parts too.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Frances H

Gorgeous to look at with sets and costuming on which no expense was spared but the story is too tragic for my taste. And Felicity Jones; acting ability was wasted.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/22/20

Full Review

Audience Member

I specially like all the ending part, went the movie arrives to the right climate. Perfect Michelle Pfeiffer as Léa deLonval. The movie has not a clear tone in some parts, but is a great cinema treasure. All the style, decoration, costumes and the music score from Alexandre Desplat are excellent elements, so well worked, that also make that movie so enjoyable.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

An entertaining and thoughtful story from La Belle Epoque with some of the most gorgeous costumes, sets and locations I have ever seen. The hats, the dresses, the jewelery, oh it's magnificent. Michelle Pfeiffer is luminous as the aging (very well!) courtesan with Kathy Bates playing an amusing frenemy and one time colleague. It was an honest story about the world courtesans inhabit, what becomes of them as they get older, as well as a beautiful portrait of what it does to a child to grow up in such a world, curiously jaded about many things and yet inexperienced in real emotions and responsibility. Rupert Friend is channeling Hugh Dancy in this movie, as he channeled Orlando Bloom in 'Young Victoria', to great effect. I especially liked the interactions between Lea and her servants, which behave more like dear friends than employees. I loved the narrator, who lends a dreamy, fable-like quality to the story and is perhaps the voice of reason. While not a movie I would like to watch over and over, it was funny, bittersweet and pragmatic, dealing with the reality behind the gloss of the Gilded Age.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/02/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Very interesting story with beautiful costumes .

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/14/23

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Audience Member

Entertaining... The Facts of Life...

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

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Stephen Frears

Director

Michelle Pfeiffer

Léa de Lonval

Rupert Friend

Chéri

Kathy Bates

Charlotte Peloux

Felicity Jones

Edmée

Bette Bourne

Baroness

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Phillip Lopate

Film Comment Magazine

No need for elaborate sets: a walk through a rose garden or a Mucha reproduction on the wall, will suffice, especially when our primary attention is riveted by the sensuous interplay of the two leads.

Mar 19, 2018

Full Review

Nicolas Rapold

Time Out

Rated: 2/5

Nov 18, 2011

Full Review

Ben Kenigsberg

Time Out

Rated: 2/5

Nov 17, 2011

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Pfeiffer never fails to commit to her role and all the pains therein. It’s an exceptional performance, and along with the ever-relevant themes about age and beauty, it makes the film worth seeing.

Rated: 3/4

Sep 4, 2023

Full Review

Jason Best

Movie Talk

The period detail is gorgeous, but all the sumptuousness on display seems to make the action ponderous, and not even the droll voice over provided, uncredited, by Frears can gee things along.

Nov 22, 2020

Full Review

Felicia Feaster

Charleston City Paper

Despite its turn-of-the-20th-century setting, Chéri is a remarkably contemporary story.

Jan 27, 2020

Full Review

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Synopsis

When retired courtesan Charlotte (Kathy Bates) asks her former colleague, Lea (Michelle Pfeiffer) to instruct her son, Chéri (Rupert Friend), in the ways of love, the result is a passionate affair that lasts six years. But Charlotte arranges for Chéri to marry a younger woman, and insists the affair come to an end. Lea retreats to southern France, but destiny brings the two lovers together once more.

Director: Stephen Frears
Executive Producer: Jessica Lange, François Ivernel, Cameron McCracken, Christopher Hampton, Richard Temple, Simon Fawcett
Screenwriter: Christopher Hampton
Distributor: Miramax Films
Production Co: Pathé
Rating: R (Some Sexual Content|Brief Drug Use)
Genre: Romance, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 26, 2009, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 8, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.7M

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