Review of Chéri (2009) by Marta R — 24 Oct 2013

Lea de Lonval (Pfeiffer): Did you really think I was such a good person? If I'd been a truly good person, I'd have made a man of you instead of thinking but nothing but your pleasure and my happiness.

This was such an unusual movie, at first the narrative gave me the impression that it would be a little light-hearted, that the story would be a bit more whimsical, a dramady; but as good as the movie proved to be, the conclusion was a bit more depressing than I had expected. The story, like I mentioned, was good and the whole courtesan angle was interesting. The film had a good ensemble but I felt some of the actors seemed a bit out of place, most notably the talented Kathy Bates. Even though she is quite a credible actress; I felt she was miscast and wasn't a good fit for the part. Michelle Pfeiffer was brilliant as usual and played the ethereal Lea de Lonval perfectly. The unbelievably gorgeous Rupert Friend was just too pretty to be true, it was distracting because I kept wondering if his character actually secretly longed to be a woman (especially when he was wearing Lea's pearl necklace) because he was just too damn, distractingly beautiful. Their love-affair was epic but inevitably doomed from the beginning and ended equally as tragically as Romeo & Juliet's; which was truly quite sad.