Cherry Crush

Not bad at all, but not quite as good as I was expecting from the comments here. Jonathan Tucker does his best Toby Maguire in this story about a privileged young photographer who gets mixed up with a girl from the wrong side of the tracks.

As I watched this movie I tried to figure out what separates it from The Crush with Alicia Silverstone or Devil in the Flesh with Rose McGowan. While not directly analogous, those movies have the same type of noir lite feeling to them. But the difference is, aside from the fact that this movie really strives for believability and has decent writing, that those movies had lead actresses that really crackled on screen. I mean, you knew you were going to be seeing more of Alicia Silverstone after The Crush, or at least you should be.

Not so with Nikki Reed. She does a nice enough job and there's a restrained quality to her performance--to this whole movie really--that works well. (Too often this type of movie veers toward gushy melodrama and Cherry Crush manages to rein that in.) But again, Ms. Reed is not a show stopper. In fact, I found myself more interested in Julie Gonzalo on screen, even though she's got the boring, goody two shoes role.

What's worse is that there's no real chemistry between Reed and Tucker.

With that said, this movie has some nice touches. The high school seems especially real. The idea of being privileged is handled with respect, not given a superficial treatment. The second half of the movie becomes more involving than you expect and the ending is believable.

Overall, I liked it. But I wouldn't be surprised if I see it in the video store soon. It's better than some USA movie, but it's not quite ready for movie theaters either.

Here's a different movie. Two murders in an understated plot without the obligatory gore and more. Hmmm....a bit of Hitchcock, but without Grant or Stewart, it relies heavily on cinematography and editing. Good idea. Cherry Crush was terrific and surprising in a number of areas. Beautifully filmed from the photo stills at the beginning to the closing shot. Of course, it didn't hurt to shoot scenes of attractive people in attractive settings. Might have been a 'ten' except..... (I can't believe we're going here).... the lead actor's neck became longer and larger as the movie progresses. OK, shallow shallow me, but you go see the movie and tell me just how distracting the neck is. If you can ignore the neck, you'll find this movie head and shoulders above the usual fare.

Like many films starring teens or pitched to a teen audience, Cherry Crush falls short on intrigue and plays long on wrought dialog and narration. What Cherry Crush has that say, Cruel Intentions, doesn't have is a languid and saturated visual feel that distracts from the film's occasionally empty writing. The film has a similar feel to The Virgin Suicides, which also focuses its artistic energies on creating rich landscapes and detailed portraits of its characters (rather than character development). Director Nick DiBella's choice to prioritize style is a good one given his strength with the camera. It's no wonder that the protagonist in his co-writing debut is a photographer.

Because of its sophisticated cinematography and laudable go at film noir in color, Cherry Crush deserves to be offered to an art house audience. The story of a rich kid bewitched by a mysterious pauper isn't a terribly sympathetic, but putting the failures of the plot concept aside, DiBella captures his subject well.

Although CHERRY CRUSH involves murder and cops, it is not a crime thriller or murder mystery. Instead, it is a character study of an affluent teenager who aspires to a career in photography until he falls for one of his subjects, a fellow student from the wrong side of the tracks looking for the big score. In order to make the big score, she needs to bump off her current lover, a married adult who should know better. She involves the photographer in her scheme and before you know it, we're looking at a teen-oriented reworking of DOUBLE INDEMNITY, or for you younger readers, BODY HEAT. No suspense, unfortunately. And the gal with murder and larceny in mind is played by a nonactor named Nikki Reed. In fact, the girl next door in this movie, played by Julie Gonzalo, was far more intriguing. The young photographer is played by Jonathan Tucker, who gives a passable performance. A couple of the adult actors were instantly recognizable: Frank Whaley is the philandering adult with lots of money, and Michael O'Keefe is a corrupt detective with money and murder on his mind. The art crowd might enjoy this; it clearly was not intended for cineplexes.

Very impressive! I thoroughly enjoyed Cherry Crush. It held my attention throughout and really picked up the pace at the end- just as a thriller should do.

I thought Jordon gave a fantastic, steely performance. I couldn't decide to root for or against him which is a exactly the sentiment you want your audience to feel in this kind of film. In addition to supplying a solid dose of climatic suspense, Cherry Crush was absolutely stunning to watch. Kudos for the cinematography. This is the kind of movie that's so beautiful it MUST be seen on the big screen. I have recommended Cherry Crush to friends.