Doce Tentação

"About Cherry" does try hard to deliver, but it just doesn't punch hard enough to make a lasting mark.

The movie trots ahead at a fairly slow, but steady, pace, which makes the movie seem to go on for a very long time. Especially where there aren't any particular peak moments in the movie.

"About Cherry" is about a young girl who leaves her dysfunctional family behind and moves to San Francisco with her friend. Here in the new town she starts making pornography for a living and earns good money, without heeding the dark side of her job. With her family ties and friendships on the line, Cherry balances a fine line which could easily tip her over.

The story is average, although it is quite painted out in stereotypical aspects, and it is to the point where it starts to become a daytime soap show; alcoholism, pornographic business, drug abuse, family problems, and so forth.

The problem with "About Cherry" is the characters in the story, as they are unfathomably one-dimensional and just doesn't really show much personality or give you enough of them to make you care. You just sit throughout the entire movie with a shrug and occasional shake of the head.

Be warned that there is an excessive amount of nudity and sexual references in the movie, obviously as the movie does revolve around the pornographic industry. Personally, I didn't care much for it, because it was done to the point where it was too much, bordering on being softcore pornography at times.

Personally, I did find that most people in the movie did fair enough jobs with their given roles, but only a couple of them managed to stand out in the movie, and those were Dev Patel (playing Andrew), Heather Graham (playing Margaret) and Lili Taylor (playing Phyllis).

I am sure if you are fans of anyone in the movie, then you might find some greater enjoyment in this movie, or if you have some kind of fascination with the way the pornographic business works, then this might be something for you. But if you are watching this for entertainment, as I did, then you will not walk away with a 'wow' sensation, because the movie just doesn't rock the boat.

I think this is the most shallow film I have ever seen. "About Cherry" is about a bunch of one dimensional people dealing with the most artificial, superficial problems imaginable. Angelina runs away from an alcoholic mom and dad to become...a porno star, yawn. The entire cast is soap opera beautiful, and the performances are mostly soap opera quality, with the exception of Dev Patel, who's talents are wasted in this bomb. How did he even wind up in this thing? James Franco, (who I greatly admire) will do anything for a laugh or a paycheck obviously. Here he plays a dope addict in lust with the porn actress, yawn. "About Cherry" is an indie film, gone horribly wrong. Obviously directed by a horny, younger man, judging by the amount of cheap nudity and (un)erotic lesbian story lines. There is not one moment of this film that feels real, and not one character that is remotely interesting or believable. But Cherry is hot and shows her boobs..a lot.

This is bad without being hilarious. There are some decent actors in this such as Dev Patel, Lily Taylor and perhaps even James Franco. But you're not seeing any good performances from them. It all feels like rehearsals or one take. There's a scene at the bar with the lead Ashley Winshaw and James Franco where I'm pretty sure she breaks and starts laughing but they just leave it in. I really doubt there was a script on this because scenes just play out they have an outline and just fill in the words. There's no subtlety whatsoever in how characters react or what happens. You feel very aware that it's just a checklist of story beats to get you to the end.

I will say there were a couple of moments where I saw a what a good movie about this subject could be. Her being in porn and dating outside of that would be a difficult thing to discuss and work through. Instead characters mostly react with disgust and there's no depth to the subject matter.

Perhaps a shame that there there are flashes of the director trying to convey a message of sorts. But this is certainly not the female version of Boogie Nights. It's just a goofy movie about a girl who wants to be in porn for no particular reason.

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.

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.