About Cherry

This movie had potential, but squandered it. The story of how a normal, average woman ends up in the porn industry had a lot going for it. It started well enough and seemed to be building to something profound. Instead, from a point it just drifts, and ends up going nowhere. At times it seems judgmental, then next moment titillating. Instead of objectivity the writer and director try to hedge their bets.

On the plus side, Ashley Hinshaw is great in the lead role. Stunningly beautiful, and convincing. James Franco proves yet again that he is vastly overrated as an actor, coming across as a clueless kid in a school play. He is may well be the male version of Kristen Stewart...

Heather Graham does well in a supporting role. Dev Patel seems a bit miscast in his role.

This is a movie that is trying to pick a more realistic approach with its drama and characters, with as a problem though that neither the drama or characters feel involving or realistic in any way.

I'm still a bit confused where the movie thought it was supposed to get its drama from. The premise of the movie does indeed let it sound like a heavy drama, in which an innocent young girl gets stuck into the world of drugs and porn but the problem with the movie is that none of the drama feels desperate in anyway. I don't even know why the girl got into porn in the first place. It was not like she had abusive parents, or was extremely poor and had no other prospects in life. In other words, there was just nothing miserable or hopeless about her life at all, so why does she decided to make such a drastic life changing decision? The movie is never really clear on it and lets stuff just happen, without letting it have an emotional impact neither.

So maybe her life starts spiraling down once she gets into porn? No, on the contrary actually. She has more money and friends than ever before, so what is the movie actually trying to do or say? Bottomline is that it's trying to be dramatic, without letting anything on the screen come across as dramatic. What a weird and terribly ineffective approach for a drama to take.

It's as if the movie itself also realized that it's drama and main character weren't really working out, since it decides to throw in a bunch of more characters, with each their own things going on. Some of it feels out of place, while some of it does indeed work out more interestingly. It gives the movie at least some variety.

So no, I actually didn't completely hated watching this movie but it still made me constantly go; what's the point of all of it and why am I watching this in the first place?

And the ending...well, it wraps things up but it doesn't ever reach a satisfying conclusion with anything. The movie just ends, without making it feel like everything is done with as well. The movie does indeed leave more questions than answers but on the other hand, you won't care enough about this movie or any of the characters to truly want to see all of the questions getting answered.

A mostly failed independent drama, that you real easily could do without.

5/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

I just watched this movie. The thing about it is that the characters are very shallow. The acting is good but the characters lack depth and you don't understand why things happen.

Most of the characters appear briefly and we never get to know what happens at the end. Cherry/Angelina's cocaine-addict boyfriend suddenly disappears and we never hear from him again. She argues with her best friend and we don't know what happens to him at the end. The same with her mom's abusive boyfriend and Heather Graham's girlfriend. It's like things happen for no reason. Thing just ... happen. Characters have no impact on the plot. They just come and go. The end is absolutely rubbish.

It's a good movie if you are so bored and wanna kill some time but don't have high expectations.

I would rate it 2 out of 10 but I gave 4 because acting wasn't that bad.

Most movies about the business of pornography are moralistic films, showing the exploitation that grinds its participants down and steals their souls (to mix a metaphor).

This is not one of those.

As a movie, it's not sure whether the title character is being ruthlessly exploited, or joyously empowered. She's one or the other both or neither.

A lot of peripheral characters and subplots are drawn in, but all are handled perfunctorily. A lot of star power -- Heather Graham, James Franco, Dev Patel -- is wasted in cardboard roles.

Ashley Hinshaw, playing Cherry, is a beautiful actress, and looks a lot like a younger Heather Graham (no coincidence, I'm sure, in terms of their characters). She doesn't display much range here, and her character is not given a chance to grow (which could be the director's fault).

In the end, it's not bad, but there's nothing there. Despite showing the porn industry, it lacks sleaze; and yet you couldn't call it tasteful. Just dull.

interesting story line, interesting until there is no climax and you are left feeling as though you wasted your time. there is nothing special about cherry, which could represent that her ordinariness means she is relatable to any young female that could end up in the pornography industry.

either way I cant help but feel if there was a better ending the film would have been better, although the ending it had did seem like the most probable it was very disappointing.

it was very interesting to see a movie that glamourized the pornography business, however It would have been a bit better if it had shown of the darker truths, the filmed seemed as though it was about female dominance and did not expose the female oppression in pornography. although I do suppose this film shows one of the two sides..

I wouldn't recommend it but its not a bad little film to watch.