Cherry
Director: Anthony and Joe Russo
Writer: Nico Walker (author), Jessica Goldberg, Angela Russo-Otstot
Starring: Tom Holland, Ciara Bravo, Jack Reynor, Damon Wayans Jr.
Reason for watching: New release
Number of times I’ve watched it: First time viewing
***
The Russos are back with their first movie since Avengers: Endgame broke every conceivable box office record in its path, only for Avatar to take back its box office belt due to a re-release. But they are back not to make another entry into a big franchise but to flex their emotional story muscles on Apple TV+. While I may not have enjoyed this entry into the second-best brothers-and-directors duo's filmography, it’s certainly worth a watch.
Cherry (Tom Holland) is a young man who drifts his way through the world until he meets the love of his life, Emily (Ciara Bravo…the little sister from Big Time Rush to anyone who recognized that name). After a tour in Iraq as an army medic, he returns to the states where he falls into an opium addiction that he pulls Emily into as well. This leads to him robbing banks to pay off his debt to his drug dealer Coke (Jack Reynor, who continues his streak of playing the most dislikeable a**hats).
First of all, the emotional depth we get out of Tom Holland here is something remarkable. We knew our favorite Avenger had to be better than a cute face and quippy delivery and gymnastics. Naw…kid’s got depth. There’s a scene where’s calling Emily from Iraq that will wreck you. There’s no question now who the best actor was who’s ever played Peter Parker. (Sorry, Andrew. You were good at looking distressed and stuttering. Sorry, Tobey. You were good at yelling.) Bravos delivers some emotional moments as well in her own throws of drug addiction.
I will give the Russos credit for improving some of their stylistic choices. After Captain America: The Winter Soldier they went with more long-takes for their action shots instead of frequent jump cuts. Particularly during military scenes, we get some well-done tracking shots. On top of that, their humor switches from standard Marvel quippy jokes to some more dark humor. I don’t love all the choices here though. While those steady cam shots work well for action scenes, sometimes they use them too frequently for dramatic scenes and they throw in some slow motion and gray colors. Honestly, it’s felt a little too much like a Zach Snyder movie.
This is not an uncommon thing for people to do after they get out of a big franchise that has had a lot of commercial or critical success. They do something more personal and usually, it’s so different from what they did previously that their fans and critics are split on their enjoyment of it. Think of Christopher Nolan after he finished The Dark Knight trilogy. He immediately makes Interstellar, which is probably his most polarizing movie. So it is not uncommon for directors to move onto more personal projects. You gotta let these great directors work on what sometimes. Because you might end up with some great work. While Cherry might not be that great work for the Russos, but it’s in there somewhere for them.
6/10
Until I see another one.
PS - Seriously, Jack Reynor only plays absolutely garbage human beings. Transformers 4, Free Fire, Detriot, Midsommar, and this a streak of dislikeable that actually makes Tom Cruise envious. And that guy sucks. (No I don’t disagree about following Covid-19 protocols but that kind of tirade is pathetic. Mama always said, “Praise in public. Discipline in private.”