[Review] Cherry: Tom Holland’s Breakthrough
Having completed Avengers: Endgame, the Russo brothers have finally taken a break from Marvel Studios to direct the mid-budget film Cherry. Will this film be as successful as their previous works?
Before directing Marvel films, the Russo brothers directed several comedy films and gained significant attention for their work on series like Arrested Development and Community. However, their most famous and successful works remain Marvel's four Captain America and Avengers movies. Audiences' impressions of them may be long stuck on such large-scale productions, and they might not pay much attention to their other works. The directors' previous film, Avengers: Endgame, is the highest-grossing film in history. This achievement certainly secured their place in history, but what's more important is how they continue their success after leaving Marvel Studios and how they prove their talent beyond superhero films. This time, Cherry is undoubtedly a major test for them: the film's story focuses on character development, and the subject matter is more mature and dark, with a smaller scale.
The film mainly revolves around the protagonist Cherry's experiences from his teens to his twenties. During this period, he goes through studying, military service, drug addiction, robbery, etc., which is a very complex and tortuous stage of life, but the focus of the story is ultimately his love story with Emily. The film is mainly divided into three parts. The first part primarily focuses on their love story; the second part mainly revolves around Cherry's military service; and the third part focuses on his struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after returning home, leading him to become an addict and a criminal. Even though Tom Holland's narration tries his best to connect these three parts, their styles and feelings are too different, making them seem disjointed, like watching three separate episodes of a miniseries. The first part mainly revolves around the love between the two protagonists. The film's composition, visuals, and some slow-motion shots make this part look relatively tender, subtle, and ambiguous. In the second part, the film's pace picks up, and the protagonist's narration and some scenes in training camp add a touch of irony, while the war scenes are the large-scale productions that the directors excel at, showing their mastery. The film's focus is on Cherry's psychological changes and PTSD. The third part should be the most important, but it seems slow-paced and somewhat dragging, making it difficult to engage with and sympathize with Cherry's experiences.
The film lasts nearly two and a half hours, trying to say too much, but almost everything we see is something we've seen before in other similar films and series. Even though the Russo brothers have tried their best to add some personal style to the film, it still struggles to stand out among similar works. If the script had focused on the love story of the two protagonists in the first part, it might have brought a bit more uniqueness to the story. Unfortunately, Emily becomes less important in the second half of the film, and the relationship between the two is not explored much, missing a good opportunity. This time, with the Russo brothers directing such a mid-budget film without the constraints of a major studio, they had more space to make more artistic choices and add more color to the film, but it still couldn't save the script.
The film's biggest selling point is Tom Holland's performance. He plays Cherry through different stages of his life, including the sweetness of love, the ruthlessness of war, and the pain of addiction. He also breaks through his established image, shedding the childishness of his previous roles and showing the audience a more mature side of him. His performance in the third part, when facing PTSD and addiction, is particularly moving, allowing the audience to feel his pain. The film's makeup team also deserves credit for presenting Cherry in different stages, later fully showing Cherry's weariness and the devastation of time and drugs. Ciara Bravo's performance in the film is also very impressive. Her somberness and maturity provide a significant contrast to Cherry and allow the audience to understand the struggles she faces, but her screen time is limited by the script.
After Cherry, the Russo brothers will return to directing large-scale productions. Hopefully, when they try directing mid-budget films again in the future, they will find a better script.
Trailer:
Synopsis:
Cherry (Tom Holland) drifts from college dropout to army medic in Iraq—anchored only by his one true love, Emily (Ciara Bravo). But after returning from the war with PTSD, his life spirals into drugs and crime as he struggles to find his place in the world.
Photo and Source: Apple TV+