Cherish

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It's the type of flick that you want to see again, and real soon, because you have the sense you missed a lot the first time around.

The use of music is huge in this movie. Although completely different, I am drawing up memories of High Fidelity. Both movies feature music as its own entity or major theme in the story, not just as a backdrop to help tell the story. As a music lover, I just dig this.

Robin Tunney was phenomenal as Zoe. I think even if I didn't enjoy the other characters and the plot so much, this movie would be worth seeing just for her performance. She did an excellent job of portraying Zoe's journey. Her performance never felt pushed or strained; she just WAS Zoe, from the first scene to the last. Of course, this is what actors are paid for! I just felt she did an extraordinary job of capturing the character.

I love the way this movie was presented. It didn't abuse, or rely on, special effects. Rather, they were used at just the right time to help tell the story.

This movie has just enough of everything you want in a movie to make it suitable for all the types of moods you might be in when you see it!

A young woman,Zoe,is placed under electronic house arrest for a crime she did not commit. The eccentric and energetic `Cherish, ' written and directed by Finn Taylor (`Dream with the Fishes') has the virtues of romance and thriller with a good dose of odd love. It is by far superior to any other in its multi-genre this year.

Robin Tunney plays Zoe as a cross between Frankie Potente in `Run, Lola, Run' and an updated Audrey Hepburn in `Breakfast at Tiffany's.' She indeed runs for her life, in a sequence clearly influenced by `Lola,' and she hangs out on an apartment terrace wistfully looking at life as Audrey did almost a half a century ago.

Tunney is natural and attractive dealing with the loneliness of exile and a possible romance with the rep for the electronic imprisoning device.

Her antagonist is a male version of Clint Eastwood's nemesis in `Play Misty for Me'-a cunning loner whose affection for music and Zoe is pathological. This insanity allows for an eclectic soundtrack rich with the songs of the ‘50's and 60's and an emphasis on the eccentric contemporary Noe Venable, perfectly suited to the situation.

And the music is a star-the pop lyrics give meaning and nostalgia in a world where Zoe is confined by four walls but liberated by her imagination to become a passably good roller skater and lovable neighborhood oddity. Association hit "Cherish" is the titular song whose demented lyrics reflect the antagonist's sick obsession with a girl he can never have.

Confinement has released her imagination. Finally, an intelligent movie this summer to share the spotlight with Hugh grant's `About a Boy.'

This is one of my favorite independent films. Yeah, the storyline may not be original, but Robin Tunney and Tim Blake Nelson do such a good job that you just love their characters (at least I did) and you want everything to turn out well for them. When I saw this in the theater originally, I loved the soundtrack, as it fit the storyline so well. The 80s songs featured are so cheesy and they fit the stalker theme. This film is so obviously low budget, but the actors involved made the story interesting, and I got so wrapped up in the story that I didn't care about the "little things." The DVD is well made, with an entertaining commentary track and an interesting "making of" featurette. What more could a film geek want?

In San Francisco, Zoe (Robin Tunney) is a shy and outcast in her working place that adores the love songs she listens to the radio. Zoe goes to a bar with her coworkers and she spends the night talking to a colleague that also like mushy songs. She drinks with him and when she goes to her car to take her cellular to call a taxi, a stalker forces her to drive away. A police officer sees the intruder in her car and asks her to stop the car. However, the guy forces Zoe to run over the policeman that is hit and dies. Zoe has a car accident and the aggressor escapes.

Neither the police nor her defense lawyer believes on her words and Zoe is arrested for murdering the policeman. She is confined at home with an ankle bracelet under the surveillance of Daly (Tim Blake Nelson), a lonely man that falls in love with Zoe. She tries to find a way to leave the spot to chase the criminal and prove her innocence.

I bought "Cherish" on DVD a long time ago, and only today I have watched it. It was a pleasant surprise, since Robin Tunney and the music score with wonderful songs from the 60's, 70's and 80's make this good low- budget film also delightful. The conclusion is satisfactory but could be better and better. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "No Lugar e na Hora Errada" ("In the Wrong Place and Time")

I like this movie. As far as perfomances go, Tim Blake Nelson's Daly was great! It was worth the watch and worth the listen because the music was great too. Cherish is unrequited love at it's best! Of course I liked Zoe (good performance by Tunney) but it was Daly that I related to most of all. In my world I am Daly, always waiting and hoping for that elusive bliss to be reciprocated! A solid 7 out of 10!