Cherrybomb

Sheehan is marvelous in this. All the lead characters were fun to watch. And who doesn't like films about drugs and stealing. Highly recommend this one!

This is basically a story about 2 boys liking the same girl, and how both try to outdo each other to impress her.

It's not a new story, but it added a little difference to the common plot - the 2 guys are like magnetic opposites who happen to be best friends. Rupert Grint plays Malachy - a sensible sort who has a close and postcard-normal family and has apparently no serious problems; Robert Sheehan (still good but this is not his best work) is Luke, a drug dealer with an addict father and dealer-boss brother, whom you look at and wonder why he isn't more screwed-up than he already appears to be. Kimberly Nixon is Michelle, the girl they're trying to impress and bed, but her performance was the lousiest of the 3.

The first half builds properly. It was fun to see how they tried to outdo each other in order to impress the girl. There was also a bit of family drama (for Luke and Michelle at least) thrown in - something I thought would lead to more exploration in the second half.

Alas, the next half of the movie let me down. I couldn't feel more for the characters than the little I already did, and I felt like I was meant to as the film progresses towards its climax. It spent too little time exploring the changing dynamics between the friends, and it failed to convince me how the friends could seemingly be driven apart so easily. The ending wasn't as good as I hoped it would be.

A few other things I took issue with: film editing left something to be desired, camera work needed improvement, the film could have been scored better, the actors chosen better (they seemed to be chosen based on their popularity than their suitability for the film).

5.5/10

I have not wrote a review for a long time. For some reason I felt like I needed to on this one. It's a pretty simple story about two best friends that like one girl. One of the friends Rupert Grint who plays Malachy comes from like the I would not say rich neighborhood. But his family loves him very much and knows he is going to be successful. While on the other hand you have Luke played by Robert Sheehan. Luke lives a different life style then Malachy. His father is a low down drunk and his older brother pretty much takes care of them both until later on in the film.

So you could say Luke is the wild one and Malachy is like the nice guy. Then comes in Michelle played by Kimberley Nixon which Is very beautiful by the way. She sort of leads them both on in a weird way. But if she did not do this then the movie would not work. So these two best friends compete sort of to win the girl over. I think that is what makes the film work the best. The fact that you don't know who is going to get the girl in the end is what really makes everything work.

It is a drama film with great acting by all the lead actors my favorite being Luke. Even though I myself am more like Malachy. The cinematography is pretty good. You will like getting to know these characters and what makes them the way they really are. I am not going to tell you the end of the film you will just have to watch it for yourself. I also like the White messages at the top and all over the screen that appear to let you sort of know what is about to happen in the film. It kept my attention I recommend it to anyone who likes drama.

Throughout this movie I kept having flashes to this last season of Skins. The whole Freddie/Effy/Cook theme was played out a bit differently, but with the same type of terrible results. Granted, Malachy and Luke had a more respect for each other, but Michelle was the same sort of Effy character. Other than that the movie had the same type of a feel. Sex, drugs, and bit of violence sprinkled together as a coming of age story.

The characters were well played and each had their own problems and envy of the other's lives for one reason or another. Robert Sheehan was commendable in his role as a struggling young man only looking for acceptance and a family above all else. And that's seems to be what made his relationship with Malachy perfect. Sheehan played the perfect balance of needing others while being forced in to a role of independence that was obviously unwanted.

Rupert Grint also did a admirable job in his role of smothered young man looking to spread his wings and be himself, a role he seems to find himself playing again and again lately. He fights with his deep rooted ideals of how people should be treated against his behavior when he tries to get what he wants. Grint seems to find a happy medium in this character and makes him feel true and at time conflicted. My only qualm with his performance is the accent seemed to slip at times and I felt it was unbelievable.

When I walked into the movie I certainly thought I was going to see something much harsher and quite different, the plot summery and trailer were quite deceiving, but I was pleasantly surprised by this movie and expect much more from these actors. The story line wasn't detailed, but it never tends to be with these types of movies. What's left unsaid speaks louder than anything that could be written.

The story's been revealed already. Nothing else to say, but that this is not, by a far cry, Rupert's first great dramatic achievement.

Last comment's remarks on his work are a bit "off-colour". It'd be good for all of us viewers to get rid of Rupert's role in the Harry Potter's still unfinished franchise, OK. Watch him alongside Julie Walters in "Driving Lessons" and you'll see what this almost 20-year old "kid" can do... he's been a great actor for a long time! (Driving Lessons was shot while The Goblet of Fire was still rolling cameras!).

So, if there's anything to say about an actor here, it would be really appropriate to watch his whole work before judging it, especially when he's so young. Driving Lessons was the door that opened him a whole new world because he did it so well. And here, again, he delivers with enormous power, literally obliterating Bob Sheehan and Kim Nixon, especially Robert, who's been in the limelight before Rupert.

Oh, and BTW, is there any other actor coming from the HP films who's talented as Rupert? Just watch and let some three more years go on, and you'll see Rupert in more and more big films that really suit his capabilities.