Review of Cherrybomb (2009) by Calum B — 19 Nov 2012

After watching the trailer for "Cherrybomb", I had great expectations about this one. It looked dark and raw and sexy. But I was a bit disappointed. Not that it was not interesting to watch, but it felt like something was missing, something was not enough.

The storyline goes like this: Two 16-year-olds, best friends, fall for the new girl in town. She leads them both on and they compete over her, trying to impress her. The three fall into a twirl of alcohol, drugs, sex and violence.

The two friends are portrayed by Rupert Grint and Robert Sheehan. They were both excellent. Sheehan is always a joy to watch, there is a great career ahead of him. And Grint was a very pleasant surprise, basically supporting most of the film with his performance. Kimberley Nixon though, the girl that pulls the strings, did not stand up to the part for me. It didn't seem believable that she could affect them that much, I couldn't see "that something" in her.

Another reviewer compared this trio with the Effy/Freddie/Cook story in "Skins". I agree to the similarity and it is an excellent argument why "Cherrybomb" was not enough. Effy was a character you loved to hate. You could see why she had them crazy over her. The love/hate friendship between Freddie and Cook was very touching. And it was much more raw and violent, really leaved you with a wow/punch-in-the-stomach kind of feel. "Cherrybomb" tried for this feel too and didn't quite get there...

The cinematography was interesting, I liked the dark colors and it got across the feeling of despair and confusion of adolescence. But still I expected more, it was a bit superficial, not strong enough, not daring enough perhaps, to shock you, to really get to you.

Kudos for the ending and the soundtrack. Could have been better, but it's still worth watching.