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Chéri

R Released Jun 26, 2009 1h 32m Romance Drama List
51% Tomatometer 140 Reviews 40% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
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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Chéri

Chéri

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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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Critics Reviews

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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 Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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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 Full Review Audience Member Entertaining... The Facts of Life... Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Lea de Lonval (Pfeiffer): Did you really think I was such a good person? If I'd been a truly good person, I'd have made a man of you instead of thinking but nothing but your pleasure and my happiness. This was such an unusual movie, at first the narrative gave me the impression that it would be a little light-hearted, that the story would be a bit more whimsical, a dramady; but as good as the movie proved to be, the conclusion was a bit more depressing than I had expected. The story, like I mentioned, was good and the whole courtesan angle was interesting. The film had a good ensemble but I felt some of the actors seemed a bit out of place, most notably the talented Kathy Bates. Even though she is quite a credible actress; I felt she was miscast and wasn't a good fit for the part. Michelle Pfeiffer was brilliant as usual and played the ethereal Lea de Lonval perfectly. The unbelievably gorgeous Rupert Friend was just too pretty to be true, it was distracting because I kept wondering if his character actually secretly longed to be a woman (especially when he was wearing Lea's pearl necklace) because he was just too damn, distractingly beautiful. Their love-affair was epic but inevitably doomed from the beginning and ended equally as tragically as Romeo & Juliet's; which was truly quite sad. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Chéri

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

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
Producer
Bill Kenwright
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
Runtime
1h 32m
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